CIBC gets in the Xmas mood on its Miracle Day
‘TIS the season and alongside mince pies, carols and tinsel, charity trading days are fast becoming the traditional way to celebrate Christmas in the Square Mile.
Just a day after Icap’s annual charity extravaganza, Canadian Bank CIBC yesterday hosted its Miracle Day with all fees and commissions from its London wholesale banking employees going to local children’s charities.
And it wasn’t just the usual sea of suits strutting their stuff on the trading floor, with celebrities from female comedienne Jennifer Saunders to actress Samantha Bond – Miss Moneypenny in the pre-Daniel Craig days when Pierce Brosnan was Bond – making an appearance.
A trio of Olympic rowing medallists; Greg Searle, Alex Partridge and David Smith, all turned up too in the hope some of their 2012 charm would rub off on the trading floor.
Certainly a success on the celebrity score count, but was it also a success numbers wise?
Seemingly, such a success that the huge wads of cash raised are still being totted up.
Despite most trades these days being executed at the touch of a button, it seems CIBC’s calculator is not yet up to speed.
More than 24 hours after the event, CIBC tells The Capitalist there is no grand total yet. However, with more than £3.4m raised by CIBC events for charities across the UK and Europe since 1994, hopes are high that yesterday’s event will boost the coffers for these worthwhile causes even further.