Bank of Montreal debit card
The
Bank of Montreal (in French,
Banque de Montréal, and commonly
BMO in either language) is the fourth
largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817, making it Canada's oldest bank.
In Canada, the company operates as
BMO Bank of Montreal and has more than 900 branches.. 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.
The company is ranked at number 189 on the
Forbes Global 2000 list.
History
BMO (pronounced Bee-Moe) today is a major international bank with 1,100 branches across Canada and around the world. In 1977, BMO's operational headquarters moved to
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)
Mergers
BMO, Edmonton
During its history, Bank of Montreal has merged with or acquired several other Canadian banks:
- Commercial Bank of Canada (1868)
Founders
The following nine merchants signed the Articles of Association for the creation of the "Montreal Bank" on June 23, 1817:
- Robert Armour (1781-1857) businessman, militia officer, and office holder
- George Garden (c.1772-1828), director from 1817 to 1826 and vice-president from 1818 to 1822.
- Horatio Gates (1777-1834), merchant and banker, President of BMO 1832-1834
- John Richardson (c. 1754 - 1831)
- Thomas A.Turner (1775 ? - 1834)
- Ezekiel Hart - Businessman and First Jewish Member of Parliament in 1806
Presidents
- John Gray (1817 to 1820); co-founder and first President
Chief Executive Officer
Currently, the top executive at the Bank of Montreal is styled
President and Chief Executive Officer. That officer often also held the title of
chairman of the board, until 2003 when a non-executive chairman was appointed.
Prior to becoming CEO, they also spent time as chief operating officer (COO), the second-highest executive which was often formally titled
President and Chief Operating Officer, if the top executive was titled Chairman and CEO.
(partial list)
Operations
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.
- * 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)
- Private Client Group (wealth management), including
- * 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.
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
BMO still has 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.
Sport events sponsorship
BMO is the sponsor for this season of the
Toronto Maple Leafs 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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
