Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal
BMO Financial Group (US)
BMO Bank of Montreal (Canada)
FormerlyMontreal Bank
(1817-1822)
Company typePublic
TSX: BMO
NYSE: BMO
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedAs Montreal Bank:
23 June 1817; 206 years ago (1817-06-23) in Montreal, Lower Canada
As Bank of Montreal:
1822; 202 years ago (1822) in Montreal, Lower Canada
HeadquartersMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada[note 1],
Key people
Patrick Cronin
(CRO, BMO Financial Group)
George A. Cope
(Chair of the Board, BMO Financial Group)
Thomas E. Flynn
(CFO, BMO Financial Group)
Dave Casper
(CEO, BMO Harris Bank)
Darryl White (CEO BMO Financial Group)
RevenueIncrease CAD$22.8 billion (F2019)[3]
Increase CAD$5.8 billion (F2019)[3]
Total assetsIncrease CAD$852.2 billion (F2019)[3]
Number of employees
45,513 (FTE, F2019)[3]
SubsidiariesBMO Capital Markets
BMO Harris Bank
BMO Nesbitt Burns
WebsiteCanada: bmo.com
US: bmoharris.com
Capital Markets: bmocm.com

The Bank of Montreal is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank. Their head office remains in Montreal. They also have operational headquarters and executive offices in Toronto, Ontario, since 1977. One of the Big Five banks in Canada,[note 2] as well as one of the ten largest banks in North America. It is commonly known by its acronym BMO. BMO is also its stock symbol on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.[4]

Establishment and early history

On 23 June 1817, John Richardson and eight merchants signed the Articles of Association to establish the Montreal Bank in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. The bank officially began conducting business on 3 November 1817. This is the birth of Canada's oldest bank.[5] It underwent a name change to its current in 1822. 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.[6]

Operations in the USA

In the United States, it does business as BMO Financial Group, where it has substantial operations in the Chicago area and elsewhere in the country, where it operates 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 131 on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[7]

On December 12th, 2021 Bank of Montreal announced the strategic acquisition of Bank of the West from BNP Paribas for US$16.3 billion.[8]

Achievements

The company has not missed a dividend payment since 1829. They paid dividends consistently through major world crises such as World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the 2008 financial crisis; this makes the Bank of Montreal's dividend payment history one of the longest in the world.[9]

References and notes

  1. ↑ Mussio 2016, p. 97.
  2. ↑ "Note 1: Basis of Presentation" (PDF). The Bank of Aiming Higher: BMO 201st Annual Report 2018. Bank of Montreal. 2019. p. 148. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "BMO Financial Group" (PDF). bmo.com.
  4. ↑ Tor, Maria; Sarfraz, Tor (23 December 2013). "World's 100 Biggest Banks: China's ICBC #1, No U.S. Banks In Top 5". Forbes. SNL Financial. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Bonham, Mark S. (2012). "Bank of Montreal". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "Branch Banking". bmo.com. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "The Global 2000". Forbes. 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "BMO Financial Group accelerates North American growth with strategic acquisition of Bank of the West". BMO.com. December 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ Blackwell, Richard (25 November 2008). "The Explainer: Are bank dividends safe from cuts?". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2018. The big banks have an astonishingly long record of consistently paying dividends. Bank of Montreal has been distributing them non-stop since 1829 - almost 180 years, the longest unbroken record of any Canadian company. Bank of Nova Scotia's streak goes back to 1833, TD's to 1857, CIBC's to 1868 and Royal's to 1870.
  1. ↑ The bank's formal head office is based in Montreal. However, First Canadian Place in Toronto serves as the bank's operational headquarters;[1] although the bank refers to it as its "executive office".[2]
  2. ↑ It is the fourth-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and assets.