Bank of Montreal

Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAN : Bank of Montreal

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This page refers to the financial instituion the Bank of Montreal. BMO can also an abbreviation of British Mathematical Olympiad

Bank of Montreal TSX: [BMO] NYSE: [BMO] is Canada's fifth largest bank, and is classified as a Domestic Chartered Bank (Schedule I). It also has substantial operations in the Chicago area and elsewhere in the United States, where it uses the Harris name. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817, making it Canada's oldest bank. It operates under the corporate brand BMO Financial Group; its banking operations in Canada are now marketed as BMO Bank of Montreal.

History

Bank of Montreal is Canada's oldest chartered bank. It has been referred to as BMO (from its stock symbol) or Canada's First Bank.

The Bank opened in Montreal, Quebec on November 3, 1817. For the first few years of its existence, the Bank occupied a small building on Saint Paul Street. John Gray, a retired dry goods merchant, was the bank's first president and Robert Griffin worked as the first cashier.

Bank of Montreal served as Canada's central bank until the creation of the Bank of Canada in 1935. It played a major role in the development of the country, taking part in the financing of the first transcontinental railway in the 1880s. The first Canadian bank to open a branch abroad, Bank of Montreal is today a major international bank with 1,100 branches across Canada and around the world. In 1977, the BMO's operational headquarters moved to Toronto, while its legal head office remained in Montreal.

Mergers

During its history, Bank of Montreal has merged with or acquired several other Canadian banks:

• Commercial Bank of Canada (1868)
• Exchange Bank of Yarmouth (1903)
• People's Bank of Halifax (1905)
• People's Bank of New Brunswick (1907)
• Bank of British North America (1918)
• Merchants Bank of Canada (1922)
• Molson Bank (1925)

as well as several investment banking firms.

Past Presidents

(partial list)

• John Gray (1817 to 1820)
• Richard Bladworth Angus (1910 to 1913)
• H. Vincent Meredith
• William D. Mulholland (1974 to 1987)
• Matthew W. Barrett (1987 to 1990)
• F. Anthony Comper (1990 to date)

Operations

BMO is divided into three "client groups" which serve different markets. Each of the client groups operates under multiple brand names.

• Personal and Commercial Client Group (retail banking), including
• * BMO Bank of Montreal (retail banking in Canada), including BMO's Mosaic MasterCard credit cards and BMO Life, a life insurance company
• * Harris Bank (retail banking in the United States, headquartered in Chicago)
• Investment Banking Group (known as BMO Capital Markets)
• Private Client Group (wealth management), including
• * BMO Nesbitt Burns (full service investing in Canada)
• * BMO InvestorLine (self-service investing in Canada)
• * Harris Investor Services (advisory services in the United States)
• * Harris Private Bank

The bank's stock is listed on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol BMO .

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of BMO are: Robert Astley, Stephen Bachand, David Beatty, Robert Chevrier, F. Anthony Comper, Ronald Farmer, David A. Galloway, Harold Kvisle, Eva L. Kwok, Bruce Mitchell, Philip Orsino, Robert Prichard, Jeremy Reitman, Guylaine Saucier, and Nancy Southern.

Headquarters

The BMO still has its legal head office in Montreal, located on Saint-Jacques Street. However, the Chairman and President and all senior department 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 and probably, although it is not acknowledged, concerns about separatism in Quebec.

Recent mergers and merger attempts

Purchase of Harris Bankcorp (1984)

In 1984 the bank greatly expanded its operations in the United States by purchasing Chicago's Harris Bank.

Proposed merger with RBC (1998)

In 1998 Bank of Montreal shocked the Canadian financial community by announcing plans to merge with the Royal Bank of Canada. The Canadian government later blocked the proposed merger.

Membership

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:

• Interac
• MasterCard International
• Cirrus Network for MasterCard card users

External links

• [BMO Bank of Montreal's web site]
• [BMO Annual Report. 2005]

Commercial banks in Canada
Alberta Treasury Branches | Bank of Montreal | BDC | CIBC | CTFS | Canadian Western Bank | Citibank Canada | Citizens Bank of Canada | First Nations | HSBC Bank Canada | Laurentian Bank | Manulife | National Bank | President's Choice Financial | RBC | Scotiabank | TD Canada Trust

 

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