EQB AGM: Shareholders Back PC Financial Deal, New Chair Named as CEO Westlake Details Priorities

Key Points

• Shareholders approved all AGM proposals on April 8; long‑time chair Vincenza Sera will retire and be succeeded by Mike Pedersen, while CEO Chadwick Westlake outlined a mandate to accelerate growth, reset costs with senior hires, and reported early Q1 improvements including a meaningful efficiency gain and a 360‑basis‑point increase in ROE.
• Westlake described the pending acquisition of PC Financial and the Loblaw partnership as transformative, saying the deal would roughly quadruple EQB’s customer base to ~3.3 million and nearly double revenue, make EQB the exclusive financial partner for the 17‑million PC Optimum program, and add the PC MasterCard portfolio and fee‑based income.
• At closing, George Weston and Loblaw are expected to receive 17% ownership with the ability to increase to 25% over four years (which management says complies with the Bank Act); preliminary voting showed ~50.48% turnout with >96% support for director nominees and executive compensation.

EQB TSE: EQB shareholders approved all matters put forward at the company’s annual meeting on April 8, 2026, as Chair of the Board Vincenza Sera and President and CEO Chadwick Westlake outlined governance changes, early operational priorities, and the strategic rationale for the bank’s pending acquisition of PC Financial and partnership with Loblaw Companies Limited.

Leadership transition and board changes

Sera opened the meeting by emphasizing shareholder engagement and highlighted Westlake’s early actions as chief executive, including the announced agreement to acquire PC Financial and partner with Loblaw. She said the combination is expected to “greatly elevate our scale, reach, growth potential, and competitiveness,” and to create “more diversified fee and non-fee revenue streams to sustain our progress through economic cycles.”

Sera also discussed CEO succession following the death of longtime CEO Andrew Moor, who led EQB for 18 years. She said the board’s succession process was led by an ad hoc committee established in 2023 and chaired by Susan Ericksen, which helped ensure a “rigorous, disciplined, and comprehensive approach” to selecting a successor.

The chair recognized retiring directors Michael Emory and Michael Stramaglia for 12 years of service and noted her own retirement from the board after 13 years. She introduced three new director nominees—Joanne Ferstman, John Sullivan, and Mike Pedersen—and said that, following a successful vote, Pedersen would succeed her as chair.

CEO outlines mandate, cost actions, and early 2026 metrics

In his remarks, Westlake said he accepted the CEO role with a mandate “to accelerate growth, sharpen execution, and deliver enduring value,” while continuing to manage risk as a Schedule I bank.

Westlake highlighted leadership appointments and organizational changes, including:

• Anilisa Sainini’s start as Chief Financial Officer and her promotion to Executive Vice President, with added oversight of the treasury function.
• Daniel Rethazy joining from CIBC as Executive Vice President and Head of Personal Banking.
• Marlene Lenarduzzi, Darren Lorimer, and Gavin Stanley being elevated to Executive Vice Presidents.

Westlake said his first task as CEO was “restoring efficiency as a competitive advantage,” describing a reset of the cost structure and an enhanced restructuring program “refocused the organization on doing a few big things well.”

He cited first-quarter 2026 performance indicators versus the fourth quarter of 2025, saying improvements in adjusted EPS were driven by a “meaningful improvement” in the efficiency ratio, lower provisions for credit losses, and the positive impact of buyback activity. He added that return on equity increased by 360 basis points, moving the bank closer to its medium-term objective of 15% to 17%.

PC Financial deal framed as scale and diversification “leap”

Westlake described the agreement to acquire PC Financial and partner with Loblaw as transformative for EQB’s scale and visibility, calling it “a leap” that “changes everything for our growth profile.” He said the combination would “finally elevate EQ Bank to become a visible choice” and a “household name.”

Among the changes he outlined for “day one” of the combination, Westlake said EQB would:

• Quadruple its customer base to about 3.3 million.
• Nearly double revenue.
• Become the exclusive financial partner for the 17 million-member PC Optimum program.

He also said PC Financial would add the PC MasterCard portfolio and contribute to revenue diversification through “significant fee-based transaction income,” reducing reliance on spread-based net interest income.

Risk, portfolio positioning, and operational priorities

Westlake said EQB’s lending portfolio is conservatively structured, noting that 85% of commercial loans under management are insured. He also said the bank operates with strong capital ratios, disciplined provisioning, and a liquidity profile designed to perform across scenarios, while actively managing interest rate risk, credit concentration, and funding mix.

On business priorities, Westlake said the bank plans to strengthen its core franchises while remaining focused rather than attempting to “be all things to all people.” He pointed to investments in the reverse mortgage business, efforts to deepen retention in single-family residential lending, foundational investments in EQ Bank—now serving more than 633,000 customers—and advances in commercial banking, including the launch of a proprietary loan management system with integrated AI capabilities.

Westlake said EQB would confirm an investor day date “soon,” but only after the PC Financial transaction closes, due to the importance of timing around regulatory approval. He also said he expects next year’s annual meeting to be held at EQ Bank’s new corporate headquarters tower at 25 Ontario Street.

Share ownership question and voting outcomes

During Q&A, shareholder Daniel Engels asked about Westlake’s statement that the Weston group would become EQB’s largest shareholder and whether Schedule I ownership limits apply. Westlake responded that, at closing, George Weston and Loblaw Companies would receive 17% ownership in exchange for the assets, and would have the ability to buy up to 25% over a four-year period, which he said is permitted under the Bank Act. He added that EQB already has three shareholders owning more than 10%.

Sera later reported preliminary voting results, stating that 50.48% (36,949,606) of outstanding common shares were voted. She said more than 96.5% of votes cast supported each of the 10 director nominees, 95.1% supported appointing KPMG LLP as auditor, and more than 96.6% supported the advisory vote approving EQB’s approach to executive compensation. Sera said final results would be released after the meeting via press release and posted on the company’s website.

About EQB TSE: EQB

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.

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