Laid off from City National Bank.

What City National Bank layoffs have meant for employees

Royal Bank of Canada let City National run relatively independently for several years after buying it in 2015, American Banker reported in May 2024, and by then RBC planned to bring the bank closer to the parent. The Los Angeles bank had lost $285 million between May and October 2023. In January 2024 RBC's chief executive, Dave McKay, framed the problem in terms of costs, putting City National's efficiency ratio in the high 70s when comparably sized banks generally reported the low 60s, according to American Banker's January 2024 report. In May 2024 he said the bank would need to reduce its "very significant cost structure," adding, "And that will happen, we hope, over the next roughly 18 months." Those remarks suggested more downsizing was likely, American Banker reported. Counted from that remark, his roughly 18 months ran to about November 2025, and the bank's 2026 notices all came after it. In August 2026 McKay still paired growth with cost cuts, saying more growth was coming "as we continue to reduce costs," American Banker reported. For anyone at the bank that August, it was the parent's own word that cost cutting was still part of the plan.

A WARN notice in California's records is listed by building, so one City National notice date can carry two or three entries, as on May 1, 2024, when entries for Flower Street, Grand Avenue and Olympic Boulevard covered 38 jobs between them, our WARN tracker shows. A stack of entries on one date can be a single Los Angeles event, so counting entries can overstate how many separate layoffs there were, and the eleven notice dates after the February 2024 round are the better measure of how often the bank gave notice. The newest entries are split the same way, with separate September 2026 entries for Grand Avenue and Flower Street in California's WARN report.

Other parts of the bank grew. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined City National $65 million over deficiencies in its risk management and forced a series of upgrades, and by February 2024 the bank's risk management, compliance and internal audit staff had doubled to more than 800, notwithstanding the layoffs, American Banker reported. A bank spokesperson put total headcount at 6,200 in mid-February 2024, a decline of less than 1% over the previous five months, according to American Banker's February 16 report. In August 2026 RBC executives said the bank was adding bankers in the Southeast, where it had opened offices in Charlotte and Greenville for its 120-plus bankers in the Carolinas, and was looking to add bankers in Texas, by American Banker's account. Growth in those areas didn't protect every function, and none of these reports shows whether an internal role was open to a particular person on a notice.

For anyone on a 2026 notice, timing and type are the details to know. Each 2026 notice set its effective date 60 to 70 days after the notice date. If the September 2026 pair covers your job, with November 23, 2026 as the effective date those notices gave, the weeks before that date leave room to check the state's unemployment rules and price out keeping health coverage. That pair carries a layoff type of "Not known at this time" in California's report, where the bank described the 71 layoffs it reported in September 2023 and the 56 in February 2024 as permanent, by American Banker's account. Every City National notice in the tracker went to California; California unemployment benefits has that state's claim rules, and how COBRA works takes up the health plan question.

A sourced history of City National Bank layoffs

• February 2024, about 100 jobs cut

  City National cut around 100 jobs after losses, management changes and a $65 million regulatory fine, Reuters reported. That week it notified California of 56 permanent layoffs in Los Angeles County, American Banker reported.

• August to October 2023, over 5% of staff cut

  RBC's chief executive told analysts City National had cut more than 5% of its workforce, around 300 people, and that the quarter's cost program brought higher than normal severance, per MarketBeat's call transcript. The bank lost $247 million in the quarter, American Banker reported.

• November 1993, six branch closings to cut costs

  City National Corp. said closing six branches would eliminate 175 positions, about 12% of its staff, and bring a $12 million restructuring charge, American Banker reported. The bank's expense-to-revenue ratio had run above 78%.

What to do if you're laid off from City National Bank

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. City National Bank's biggest hubs: California. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what City National Bank's hub states run: California, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.