BMO Harris Bank

BMO Harris Bank, N.A. is a Chicago-based bank.

The bank is owned by BMO Financial Corporation, a holding company which in turn is owned by Bank of Montreal, also known as BMO Financial Group.

The bank is headquartered in a complex of three buildings in Chicago's Loop neighborhood. The original 21-story building was constructed in 1910 at 119 West Monroe Street. The entrance to the building is flanked by two bas-relief sculptures of lions which continued to be used in the bank's logo until 2011. In 1960, a 23-story structure was added to the east with the address of 111 West Monroe. In 1974, a second 38-story tower was added to the west with the address of 115 South LaSalle Street. Both additions were designed by the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and are in the modern style. The bank uses the address of the 1960 building.^[1]

History

In 1882, Norman Wait Harris established N.W. Harris & Co., a Chicago-based municipal bond broker and the forerunner of Harris Bank. Other key events for Harris Bank include:

• Harris Trust and Savings Bank established 1907
• Merger with Chicago National Bank 1960
• Restructured as Harris Bankcorp, Inc. 1972
• Bank of Montreal (later known as BMO Financial Group) acquires Harris 1984
• First National Bank of Barrington acquired 1985
• Acquired State Bank of St. Charles and First National Bank of Batavia 1988
• Libertyville Federal Savings Bank and Loan and Frankfort Bancshares 1990
• Harris Bankcorp and Suburban Bancorp combined under the Harris name 1994
• Acquired 54 Chicago area branches from Household Bank 1996
• Direct brokerage firm Burke, Christensen & Lewis merged with Harris Investors Direct to form Harris InvestorLine 1999
• Freeman Welwood acquired 2000
• Village Bank of Naples (Florida) and Century Bank in Arizona acquired 2001
• First National Bank of Joliet acquired 2001
• Northwestern Trust and Investors Advisory Company in Seattle, Washington acquired 2002
• Harris InvestorLine is combined with CSFBdirect to form Harrisdirect 2002
• Online client accounts of Morgan Stanley Individual Investor Group acquired 2002
• myCFO acquired 2002
• Sullivan, Bruyette Speros & Blayney Incorporated acquired 2003
• Lakeland Community Bank in Round Lake and New Lenox State Bank in Will County acquired 2004
• Mercantile Bancorp. Inc. based in Hammond, Indiana acquired 2004
• Intent to acquire Villa Park Trust and Savings Bank 2005
• Retired the Harris Trust and Savings Bank name 2005
• First National Bank & Trust, based in Kokomo, Indiana acquired 2007
• Ozaukee Bank, Based in Cedarburg, WI acquired 2008
• Merchant and Manufacturers Bankcorp Inc, based in New Berlin, WI acquired 2008
• Amcore Bank N.A. acquired April 23, 2010
• Marshall & Ilsley acquired July 5, 2011
• Restructured as BMO Bankcorp July 5, 2011

BMO Harris N.A. is a member of the Federal Reserve System.

On December 17, 2010, Bank of Montreal (BMO) agreed to purchase Marshall & Ilsley in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4.1 billion USD. Marshall & Ilsley will be combined with BMO's Harris Bank subsidiary based in Chicago.^[2]

Operations

BMO Harris Bank N.A. is the 16th largest (by total assets) commercial bank in the US (not including total assets from parent company)^[3]. With offices primarily located in the Midwest, the bank operates more than 700 branches and 1350 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Nevada and Florida. It is the second-largest Chicago-area bank based on market share, behind JP Morgan Chase.

Organization

The executive management of Harris includes:

• William Downe, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group
• David A. Galloway, Chairman, BMO Financial Group
• Ellen M. Costello, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Corp and U.S. Country Head
• Mark Furlong, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMO Harris Bank N.A.
• Peter McNitt, Vice Chairman, BMO Harris Bank, N.A.
• Hubert The Lion, Harris Bank Mascot

Services

A list of services provided at Harris Bank:

• personal financial services
• wealth management
• small business banking
• middle market banking
• investment and corporate banking
• equipment leasing

See also

• Harris, Hall & Co., securities affiliate established in 1934, following passage of the Glass Steagall Act and acquired by Dean Witter & Co. in 1953
• Harris, Forbes & Co., securities affiliate established in 1911 and acquired by Chase Manhattan Bank in 1930

References

External links

• Harris Bank
• Harris
• BMO Financial
• About Harris Bank
• Harris Bank Leasing