Rod Reynolds is a distinguished leader in Global Banking and Finance and a three-time CEO who has led major banking operations in Canada, the UK, and Asia-Pacific. His extensive international experience spans nine countries over a 40-year career, managing organizations through scale-ups, turnarounds, international expansions, and strategic divestments. He has experience in a wide variety of industries, ranging from direct investment and financing to board oversight.
Throughout his career, Rod has established a reputation for adapting to diverse cultures and driving unique teams to achieve significant growth and excel. He has been responsible for operations in over 25 countries. He led major cultural transformations in Canada, Europe, and Africa, enabling companies to move from stagnation to energized growth.
Professional Highlights:
- In his most recent as Principal of Aileron Project, a merchant bank that invests in fintech, proptech, and enterprise SaaS, Rod advises a number of the investee companies and provides strategic advice to emerging market governments, especially around Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and international bond placements.
- Rod previously served as CEO (Europe) of Scotiabank, where his areas of focus included change management, customer development, turnaround implementation, financial performance, risk management, HR, operations, compliance, regulatory matters and government relations.
- Rod also served as Scotiabank’s President (Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa) in Hong Kong, managing an $80 billion portfolio and 16,000 employees and was responsible for overall operations of the company’s activities in 13 countries.
- As President and CEO of Roynat Capital, Canada’s largest merchant bank servicing the mid-market with an investment portfolio exceeding $2 billion, Rod executed a significant growth strategy inclusive of international expansion and significant broadening of services.
- Served as Chairman of the Board of Bank of Kigali, Rwanda’s largest bank.
Rod has been involved with a number of NGOs in Africa and India and took a two year sabbatical to help scale one focused on a sustainable business approach to poverty alleviation.
Rod is a member of YPO Gold, and was previously a Regional Board member in Canada and Europe, was on the International Education Committee, and was Founder of YPO Africa Great Lakes Chapter. He also previously served as Chairman of the WPO International Education Committee.
Rod is a competitive endurance athlete and has completed over 15 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events, including two World Championships. He represented Canada at the 2024 World Triathlon Championships. Rod also participates in long distance (up to 100 miles) mountain trail running races.