The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) had elected Kathleen Taylor as its first female chairman in 2014. In a statement, Taylor would be replacing outgoing chairman David O'Brien, who would be retiring by the end of this year. O'Brien would remain on the board of directors until February 26 next year, which is the company's yearly general meeting.

Commenting about the promotion, Taylor said in a statement, "I appreciate the confidence of the board and look forward to building on the bank's achievements together."

RBC is Canada's largest bank and has is known as a leading bank in the nation. RBC is the latest financial institution to appoint a female for its top position. Data compiled by Bloomberg had shown 10 publicly listed firms in Canada are being led by women have market values of no less than CAD500 million or USD476.6 million. Across the Southern Border, Beth Mooney was promoted in 2011 as chairman and chief executive of KeyCorp. Mooney is considered the first female in the US to lead one of the 20 biggest independent banks.

In a separate statement, RBC would be promoting Mark Hughes as RBC Capital Markets' Chief Operating Officer. Hughes will replace outgoing Chief Risk Officer Morten Friis upon the latter's retirement on January 10 of next year.