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Bank of Montreal

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"BMO" redirects here. For other uses, see BMO (disambiguation).
Bank of Montreal
Banque de Montréal
Company typePublic
TSX: BMO
NYSE: BMO
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1817
Montreal, Quebec
HeadquartersMontreal, 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)
Increase $2.8 billion CAD (2010)
Total assets$411.6 billion CAD (2010)
Number of employees
37,947 (Full-time equivalent, 2010)
Websitebmo.com

The Bank of Montreal (in French, Banque de Montréal, commonly BMO in either language), or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 in Montreal, making it Canada's oldest bank.[1] 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.[2] The company also has substantial operations in the Chicago area and elsewhere in the United States, where it operates as Harris Bank and as BMO Harris. 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 189 on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[3]

History

BMO (pronounced Bee-Moe) today is a major international bank with a large amount of connections across Canada and around the world. In 1977, BMO's operational headquarters moved to the First Canadian Place in Toronto, while its legal head office remained in Montreal. Today, Bank of Montreal has assets of more than $387 billion CAD. (Source: http://www.bmo.com)

Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued its own paper money. The bank issued notes 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.

Architecture

The Bank of Montreal in Waterloo, Ontario formerly known as the Molson's Bank, built in 1914 is on the Registry of one of the Historical Places of Canada.[4] The “Old Bank of Montreal” on 100 Victoria Street East, also known as the “Heritage Court”, Amherst, Nova Scotia built in 1906 is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[5] The Bank of Montreal in Winnipeg, Manitoba, constructed in 1927, is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[6] The Bank of Montreal in Hamilton, Ontario built in 1928, is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[7] The Bank of Montreal in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador built in 1915 is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[8] The Bank of Montreal in Delta, British Columbia built in 1919 is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[9] The Bank of Montreal in New Westminster, British Columbia built in 1947 to 1948 is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[10] The Bank of Montreal in Ottawa, Ontario built in 1930 to 1932 is on the Registry of Historical Places of Canada.[11] The Bank of Montreal constructed a 3-storey bank in 1818 on rue St-Jacques in Montreal. It was modelled after a Georgian townhouse with a small porch with a classical pediment supported by Doric columns.[12]

  • First Canadian Place, Canada's tallest building
    First Canadian Place, Canada's tallest building
  • Heritage Award plaque for Bank of Montreal building on 3rd Avenue W in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
    Heritage Award plaque for Bank of Montreal building on 3rd Avenue W in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
  • Bank of Montreal on 3rd Avenue W Prince Rupert, British Columbia
    Bank of Montreal on 3rd Avenue W Prince Rupert, British Columbia
  • Bank of Montreal building with horse and carriage
    Bank of Montreal building with horse and carriage
  • Bank of Montreal
    Bank of Montreal
  • Bank of Montreal
    Bank of Montreal
  • Bank of Montreal
    Bank of Montreal
  • Bank of Montreal
    Bank of Montreal
  • Bank of Montreal
    Bank of Montreal
  • Bank of Montreal managers house. Known as the Harker House.
    Bank of Montreal managers house. Known as the Harker House.

Mergers

BMO, Edmonton

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

Executives

Founders

The following merchants signed the Articles of Association for the creation of the "Montreal Bank" on June 23, 1817:[13]

  1. Robert Armour (1781–1857) businessman, militia officer, and office holder
  2. John C. Bush (? - 1859)
  3. Austin Cuvillier (1779–1849)
  4. George Garden (c.1772-1828), director from 1817 to 1826 and vice-president from 1818 to 1822.
  5. Horatio Gates (1777–1834), merchant and banker, President of BMO 1832-1834
  6. James Leslie (1786–1873); bank director
  7. George Moffatt (1787–1865); bank director
  8. John Richardson (c. 1754 - 1831)
  9. Thomas A. Turner (1775 ? - 1834)

Presidents

  1. John Gray (1817 to 1820); co-founder and first President
  2. Samuel Gerrard (1820 to 1826)
  3. Horatio Gates (1826); co-founder and President
  4. John Molson (1826 to 1834)
  5. Peter McGill (1834 to 1860)
  6. Thomas Brown Anderson (1860 to 1869)
  7. Edwin Henry King (1869 to 1873)
  8. David Torrance (1873 to 1876)
  9. George Stephen (1876 to 1881)
  10. C. F. Smithers (1881 to 1887)
  11. Donald Smith (1887 to 1905)
  12. George Alexander Drummond (1905 to 1910)
  13. Richard B. Angus (1910 to 1913)
  14. Sir Vincent Meredith (1913 to 1927)
  15. Sir Charles Blair Gordon (1927 to 1939)
  16. Huntly Redpath Drummond (1939 to 1942)
  17. George Wilbur Spinney (1942 to 1948)
  18. B. C. Gardner (1948 to 1952)
  19. Gordon Ball (1952 to 1959)
  20. G. Arnold Hart, president from 1959 to 1967 and CEO from 1959 to 1974
  21. Fred McNeil, CEO from 1975 to 1979
  22. William D. Mulholland, CEO from 1979 to 1989
  23. Matthew W. Barrett (1987 to 1990)
  24. F. Anthony Comper (1990 to 2007)
  25. Bill Downe (from March 1, 2007)

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.

Chief Executive Officer

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)

Operations

File:Bmo@squareone.jpg
Bank of Montreal branch at Square One Shopping Centre.
File:BMOBranch ne.JPG
A typical BMO branch

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 Mosaik Mastercard credit cards; BMO Life, a life insurance company; and the former virtual bank division mbanx
    • 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)
    • BMO Harris Private Banking

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.[14]

Corporate governance

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

Headquarters

Bank of Montreal's main Montreal branch at Place d'Armes in Montreal.

BMO maintains its official legal corporate head office in Montreal, located on Saint-Jacques Street.[citation needed] 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.

Sport events sponsorship

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.[3]

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.[15]

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 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.

Purchase of GKST Inc (2008)

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.[16]

Purchase of AIG Life Insurance Company of Canada (2009)

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.

Purchase of Diners Club International Franchise (2009)

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.[17]

Purchase of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (2010)

In mid December 2010, BMO announced its purchase of Milwaukee-based M&I Bank, which does business as M&I Bank, Wisconsin's largest bank[18]. It is currently unknown whether BMO intends to re-brand M&I's locations under Harris Bank, which has been expanding into Wisconsin with the purchase of several failed banks, including Amcore Financial.

Membership

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bank of Montreal.

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:

References

  1. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000500 Bank of Montreal
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=14386 Bank of Montreal
  5. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=14801 “Old Bank of Montreal”
  6. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=7916 Bank of Montreal
  7. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=8330 Bank of Montreal
  8. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=2340 Bank of Montreal
  9. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=6369 Bank of Montreal
  10. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=3418 Bank of Montreal
  11. ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=16147 Bank of Montreal
  12. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000496 Bank Architecture
  13. ^ The centenary of the Bank of Montreal, 1817-1917. Bank of Montreal. 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
  14. ^ "Reasons for Selection, 2009 Greater Toronto's Top Employers Competition".
  15. ^ "Rexall 'oils' Rahal's wheels in Edmointon". Crash.Net. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  16. ^ "UPDATE 1-Bank of Montreal to buy U.S. bond dealer GKST". Reuters. April 21, 2008.
  17. ^ <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/bmo-to-buy-diners-club-franchise/article1375250/ BMO to buy Diners Club franchise>
  18. ^ "M&I sold to Canadian bank for $4.1 billion", "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel", December 17, 2010
  • Denison, Merrill, 1893–1975. Canada's first bank : a history of the Bank of Montreal. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, c1966. 2 v. : ill., maps, ports., (some folded, some col). ; 25 cm.
  • Nolin-Raynauld, Michelle, 1926–. The Bank of Montreal building on Place d'Armes, 1845–1901 / Michelle Nolin-Raynauld ; foreword by Jean Bélisle ; translated by Judith Berman. Montreal : Varia Press, c1999. 143 p. : facsm., ill., plans ; 23 cm. Originally presented as the author's thesis (master—Université de Montréal), 1984, under the title: L'architecture de la Banque de Montréal à la Place d'Armes. Translation of: L'édifice de la Banque de Montréal à la Place d'Armes, 1845–1901. ISBN 2922245128
  • BMO Financial Group Corporate Archives, Montreal
  • Rupert Canadian Investment Bank Review McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Limited 1992

Official sites

Other sites

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