Bindu Cudjoe is Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for Laurentian Bank of Canada leading, managing, and overseeing the Bank’s legal, regulatory and compliance functions as well as matters related to corporate governance and reputational risks.

Before joining Laurentian Bank, Ms. Cudjoe held the position of Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Canadian Western Bank (CWB). Previously, Ms. Cudjoe worked in increasingly senior positions at BMO Financial Group and practised law at both Borden Ladner Gervais and McMillan LLP, where she served as partner.

Bindu spent six years at BMO Financial Group serving most recently as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel – Technology and Operations & Chief Knowledge Officer, and prior to that Deputy General Counsel & Chief Operating Officer.  At BMO she managed legal and regulatory risk relating to a wide range of topics from technology to corporate banking, and also lead the General Counsel group’s initiatives ranging from knowledge management and project management, to finance, human resources and real estate, and directed BMO’s outside counsel program. Prior to BMO, Bindu was a Partner with McMillan LLP in the financial services group.  

A frequent speaker in Canada and the U.S. on issues of innovation in the legal industry, legal operations and diversity in the professions, Bindu was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine in 2016 and a Lexpert Rising Star: Leading Lawyers under 40 in 2014. 

Bindu Cudjoe holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary.

She is a mother of three, active in her community and currently secretary and director of the Oakville Community Foundation and was a founder of the Fearless Women’s Giving Collective, a vice president and director of Women General Counsel Canada Network and a member of the Ryerson Law & Business Advisory Council.