THE SCANDAL, THE FIRING AND THE FALLOUT

NADINE AHN WAS A HIGH-RANKING EXECUTIVE AT RBC. KEN MASON, HER SUBORDINATE, WAS RAPIDLY PROMOTED. THEN SOMEONE CLAIMED TO SEE THEM CANOODLING AT THE ROYAL YORK, TIPPED OFF HR AND TRIGGERED AN INQUISITION

- Sarah Treleaven

Someone claimed to have seen RBC's chief financial officer, Nadine Ahn, hugging and kissing the bank's new vice-president, Ken Mason, as they exited the elevators at the Royal York hotel, just steps west of the company's headquarters. Both were married with kids, but the complaint wasn't about infidelity. Mason, the tipster knew, had been rapidly promoted, which came with a sizable bump in pay. The top tier of banking is cutthroat and laced with envy, and for good reason. High-ranking staff are paid handsomely, with a tantalizing buffet of stock options, benefits and other extras. As a VP, Mason's annual perks allowance alone was $17,000.

(Ahn's was $40,000.) The tipster artfully transitioned from spilling alleged details to demanding some: Had Mason been promoted on merit or because he was cozy with the boss? In most other lines of work, if the allegations are true, what often comes next is straightforward. The employee gets reprimanded or perhaps canned, maybe with cause, maybe without. The world of high finance is different.