James Wright is the Managing Director and Head of U.S. Corporate Banking for CIBC, overseeing the Energy, Infrastructure, Transition, Utility, NBFI, CIT and Private Capital sectors, as well as Loan Syndications. With over 23 years of international banking experience, including 15 years focused on Renewable Energy and Energy Transition, James has significant advisory and financing expertise across the Infrastructure spectrum. His recent transaction experience has focused on the bank’s financing activities for the Onshore/Offshore Wind, Solar and Battery Storage segments of the Renewables industry, where CIBC has a market leading position in North America. These activities have included noteworthy portfolio, development and permanent capital raises. He has led the structuring of many transactions across
corporate/project level debt, tax equity and common equity. A number of these have received ‘Deal of the Year” accolades. Prior to joining CIBC, James spent 18 years with HSBC in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and U.S. He focused on raising capital for large infrastructure projects across the Utility, Oil & Gas and Renewables
sectors, acting in both advisory and financing capacities. James sits on the Board of Directors for the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the
Community Preservation Corporation (CPC). Through these roles, James helps bridge policy and innovation to drive climate accretive infrastructure solutions and provide strategic advisory on economic advancement for affordable housing for underserved communities. James has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics from the University of Durham. He is a keen cyclist, hiker, skier and rower. James lives in the greater Chicago area with his family.