2009, the board of the bank offered him a $1.9 million bonus for his actions during the crisis. National Bank of Canada Vachon was appointed President and Chief Executive of National Bank of Canada on February 2, 2007. In November 2012, Vachon announced that the bank was letting go of nearly 300 jobs in order to tighten expenses and create a streamlined infrastructure. The move was seen, as well, as an economic contraction and had caused Moody's Investor Service to reduce the bank's credit rating down one level while also projecting it might drop it down two levels at the conclusion of the month. Despite the drop in credit rating, the bank stated that Vachon's vision for the future remained unchanged. His compensation totaled $7,618,503 in 2015, with a base pay of $1,083,333, with other compensation adding up to $6,344,803. Although he heads the 6th largest bank in Canada, he was the most compensated banking executive in 2015. He was criticized for sitting on too many boards as CEO, however Vachon rebutted the claim saying that it was "odd" to say to a CEO, "you can’t sit on an external board even though your company is a major shareholder." In a December quarterly earnings call with investors and analysts, Vachon stated that the bank had increased positive operating leverage in its common equity and increased its quarterly dividend twice during the fiscal year—close to 7%. Personal life Vachon resides in Montreal, Quebec. On November 25, Vachon along with the Mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, unveiled an art installation piece that displayed along a six-kilometre (3.73 mile) stretch of Autoroute 20 in honor of Montreal's 375th anniversary. He said that Montreal was "a dynamic city with a reputation for innovation" later noting that "every day, hundreds of thousands of people travel along the stretch of highway between the airport and downtown Montreal, [and this art piece will be] exactly what people will see as they drive into town." Awards and honours Vachon has received numerous awards and honors for his work in Canadian investment banking and corporate leadership. Named one of "Canada's Top 40 Under 40" (2001) Financial Personality of the Year by Finance et Investissement (2012) Inducted as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, Montreal (2011) Named CEO of the Year by Canadian Business magazine (2014) Financial Personality of the Year by Finance et Investissement (2014) Honorary doctorate by Bishop's