| Type | Public TSX: BMO NYSE: BMO |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1817 Montreal, Quebec |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Key people | Bill A. Downe (CEO) David A. Galloway (Chairman) Russel C. Robertson (CFO) |
| Revenue | $12.2 billion CAD (2010) |
| Net income | $2.8 billion CAD (2010) |
| Total assets | $411.6 billion CAD (2010) |
| Employees | 37,947 (Full-time equivalent, 2010) |
| Website | bmo.com |
The Bank of Montreal (French: Banque de Montréal), (commonly BMO in either official language), or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson (1755-1831) and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, [1] making it Canada's oldest bank.[2] BMO's Institution Number (or bank number) is 001. In Canada, the bank operates as BMO Bank of Montreal and has more than 900 branches, serving over seven million customers.[3] The company also has substantial operations in the Chicago area and elsewhere in the United States, where it operates as BMO Harris Bank. BMO Capital Markets is BMO's investment and corporate banking division, while the wealth management division is branded as BMO Nesbitt Burns.
The company is ranked at number 150 on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[4]
The Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817. The Bank of Montreal established branches in Newfoundland on Jan 31, 1895 following the collapse of the Newfoundland Commercial Bank and Union Bank of Newfoundland on Dec 10, 1894. [5]
In 1925, it merged with the Molson Bank. BMO's operational headquarters moved to First Canadian Place on Bay Street in Toronto in 1977, while its legal head office remained in Montreal.
Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued its own paper money. BMO issued notes from 1817–1942. The end dates are the final dates appearing on notes, which may have circulated for some time after. The Bank of Canada was established through the Bank of Canada Act of 1934 and the banks relinquished their right to issue their own currency.
It increased its ownership of the investment firm Nesbitt Thomson, up to 75% on Sep 30, 1987.
Today, the Bank of Montreal commonly goes by the acronym BMO (pronounced bee-Moe). It is a major international bank with a large number of connections across Canada and around the world.
A number of buildings in which Bank of Montreal operates branches are listed on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada. These include:
A number of branches were designed by Andrew Taylor (Architect) including
The Bank of Montreal also constructed a three-storey bank on Saint Jacques Street in Montreal in 1818. The building was modelled after a Georgian townhouse with a small porch with a classical pediment supported by Doric columns.[15] The Bank of Montreal's operational headquarters is located at First Canadian Place in Toronto, which was designed by Edward Durrell Stone.
During its history, Bank of Montreal has merged with or acquired several other Canadian banks:
The following merchants signed the Articles of Association for the creation of the "Montreal Bank" on June 23, 1817:[16]
President was for a long time the highest-ranking title in the bank's history, however this was superseded by Chief Executive Officer in the modern era, starting with G. Arnold Hart. Several of his successors as President were CEO as well, however Matthew W. Barrett was the first top executive not to be styled president.
In the modern era, the senior officer of Bank of Montreal has been styled President and Chief Executive Officer beginning with G. Arnold Hart. That officer often also held the title Chairman of the Board, until 2003 when a non-executive chairman was appointed.
The title of the second-ranking executive has changed several times and has often been left vacant. For instance, F. Anthony Comper as the top deputy to Barrett was President and Chief Operating Officer from 1990 to 1999, until he became Chairman and CEO while retaining his title of President. During most of Comper's tenure as CEO, while there was no official "number two" executive, the CEO of BMO Capital Markets (the investment banking division) was largely considered the second-most powerful officer. Bill Downe ascended from CEO of BMO Capital to Chief Operating Officer of the entire group, but held the title only for a transitional period lasting a year until he succeeded Comper as President and CEO in 2007.
(partial list)
BMO is divided into three "client groups" which serve different markets. Each of the client groups operates under multiple brand names.
In October 2008, BMO Financial Group was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.[17]
Current members of the board of directors of BMO are: Robert Astley, David Beatty, Robert Chevrier, George Cope, Bill Downe, Christine A. Edwards, Ronald Farmer, David A. Galloway, Harold Kvisle, Eva L. Kwok, Bruce H. Mitchell, Philip Orsino, Martha C. Piper, Robert Prichard, Jeremy Reitman, Guylaine Saucier, Don M. Wilson III, and Nancy Southern.
BMO maintains its official legal corporate head office in Montreal, located on Saint Jacques Street. However, the Chairman and President and most senior division executives work out of Toronto headquarters at First Canadian Place. Under the direction of the Toronto executive, the Montreal Place d'Armes office oversees the bank's economic (and, to some extent, political) relation with the province of Quebec. This reflects the preponderant place of the Toronto Stock Exchange and Bay Street in the Canadian economy.
BMO is the sponsor for this season of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC and the Toronto Raptors.
BMO Bank of Montreal is the current title sponsor for the marathon race for the Vancouver International Marathon Society held each year in May. The current name is "BMO Bank of Montreal Vancouver Marathon".
Bank of Montreal is also a major sponsor of Skate Canada, and is the title sponsor of the BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships, BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals, BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Challenges, BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Sectionals, and BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Synchronized Championships. It is also the presenting sponsor of the CanSkate Learn-to-Skate Program.[18]
BMO purchased the naming rights to the national soccer stadium (BMO Field) at Exhibition Place in Toronto, the home of the Major League Soccer team Toronto FC, which BMO is also sponsoring. BMO's logo is on the front of their jersey.
On July 23, 2008 it was announced that BMO signed a one-race deal with IndyCar team Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing to appear on the #06 car of Graham Rahal in the first-ever IRL-sanctioned Canadian IndyCar race at Edmonton.[19]
On June 14, 2011, the Montreal Impact announced Tuesday they have a five-year agreement with the Bank of Montreal (BMO) to become lead sponsor and jersey sponsor when they join MLS as an expansion team in 2012.[20]
BMO is a founder and major sponsor of the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, an annual award of $100,000 granted to a Canadian director, playwright, or designer.[21]
In 1984 the bank greatly expanded its operations in the United States by purchasing Chicago's Harris Bank.
In 1998 Bank of Montreal shocked the Canadian financial community by announcing plans to merge with RBC. The Canadian government later blocked the proposed merger. In December 2000, the banks were successful in merging their credit and debit card processing services to form Moneris Solutions.
In 2006, BMO bought out BCPBank (Banco Comercial Portugues), a Schedule C financial institution consisting of about 6 branches in the Toronto-West area headquartered in Portugal.
In 2008 Bank of Montreal bought Griffin, Kubik, Stephans, and Thompson. GKST was a Chicago based employer that employs about 100 people in sales, trading, research, public finance and underwriting, and specializes in municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury and agency debt, and mortgage-backed securities.[22]
In 2009, the Bank purchased AIG's Canadian life insurance business, AIG Life Insurance Company of Canada, for approximately $330 million CAD. The transaction, including 400,000 customers and 300 employees, makes BMO the second-biggest life insurer among Canadian banks. The company was renamed BMO Life Assurance Company.
In November 2009, Bank of Montreal announced the purchase of Diners Club International's North American franchise from Citibank. The transaction will give BMO exclusive rights to issue Diners cards in the U.S. and Canada. The deal closed in December 2009.[23]
In mid December 2010, BMO announced its purchase of Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, which does business as M&I Bank, Wisconsin's largest and oldest bank, mainly doing business in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and Arizona, along with the Indianapolis market.[24] On April 5, 2011, bank officers from M&I Bank, Harris Bank, and the Bank of Montreal announced the name of the bank after the merger will be "BMO Harris Bank." Both the current M&I Bank and the current Harris bank will be affected by the name change. Rebranding with the new entity's logo will begin after the merger closing date. The new logo will look similar to BMO's current logo. The difference is the words "Bank of Montreal" will be replaced with "Harris Bank." The merger transaction was completed on July 5, 2011. The name change to "BMO Harris Bank" will take place over a span of 18 months.[25]
In January 2011, BMO announced its purchased Hong Kong based Lloyd George Management.[26] Lloyd George has $6 Billion under management with offices in Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Mumbai (India) and Florida.
BMO is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks. It is also a member of:
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