CORPORATE STRUCTURE
Bank of Montreal started business in Montreal in 1817 and was incorporated in 1821 by an Act of Lower Canada as the first Canadian chartered bank. Since 1871, the Bank has been a chartered bank under theBank Act (Canada) (the Bank Act), and is named in Schedule I of the Bank Act. The Bank Act is the charter of the Bank and governs its operations.
The Bank’s head office is 129 rue Saint Jacques, Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 1L6. Its executive offices are 100 King Street West, 1 First Canadian Place, Toronto, Ontario, M5X 1A1.
Bank of Montreal brands the organization’s member companies as BMO Financial Group. Note 27 to the 2017 Financial Statements lists the intercorporate relationships among Bank of Montreal and its significant subsidiaries. We incorporate this Note by reference. These subsidiaries are incorporated or organized under the laws of the state or country of their principal office, except for: BMO Financial Corp.; BMO Asset Management Corp.; BMO Capital Markets Corp.; BMO Harris Financial Advisors, Inc.; BMO Harris Financing, Inc. and CTC myCFO, LLC, which are incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, U.S.F&C Asset Management plc is incorporated under the laws of Scotland.
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUSINESS
Three-Year History
As at October 31, 2017, BMO was the fourth largest chartered bank in Canada in assets, equity, and market capitalization.
On December 1, 2015, BMO completed the acquisition of General Electric Capital Corporation’s (GE Capital) Transportation Finance business in the United States and Canada with net assets on closing of approximately $12.1 billion (U.S. $9.0 billion), and rebranded it BMO Transportation Finance. The acquisition built on our position as a market leader in commercial banking, and enhanced our business position in the United States by further diversifying net income, adding scale and enhancing profitability and margins. In fiscal 2017, BMO completed the integration of BMO Transportation Finance, allowing us to leverage the combined capabilities and suite of financial solutions to better meet our customers’ needs.
On October 28, 2016, BMO announced the appointments of Franklin J. Techar as Vice-Chair, BMO Financial Group, Darryl White as Chief Operating Officer, BMO Financial Group, Patrick Cronin as Group Head, BMO Capital Markets, Gilles Ouellette as Group Head, BMO Asset Management and Joanna Rotenberg as Group Head, BMO Wealth Management. Each of these appointments was effective November 1, 2016.
On April 7, 2017, BMO announced its intention to appoint Darryl White, Chief Operating Officer, BMO Financial Group, to the office of Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group effective November 1, 2017, as successor to William Downe, who had announced his intention to retire effective October 31, 2017. Mr. White was appointed to the Bank’s board of directors on May 24, 2017. On October 31, 2017, Mr. Downe retired as Chief Executive Officer of the Bank and, on November 1, 2017, Mr. White became Chief Executive Officer.
BMO has had common share buyback programs in place for several years. The 2017-2018 program expires on April 30, 2018. During the year ended October 31, 2017, the Bank repurchased and cancelled a total of 5 million common shares under the program, 4 million of which were purchased pursuant to a specific share repurchase program agreement.
For additional information on the general development of BMO’s business and our strategies for the upcoming year, see pages 27, 30, and 45 to 62 of the 2017 MD&A, which we incorporate herein by reference.
This Three-Year History section contains forward-looking statements. Please see the Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements on page 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS
Business
BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. BMO offers a broad range of products and services directly and through Canadian andnon-Canadian subsidiaries, offices, and branches. As at October 31, 2017, BMO had more than 12 million customers and more than 45,000 full-time equivalent employees. The Bank has approximately 1,500 bank branches in Canada and the United States and operates internationally in major financial markets and trading areas through its offices in 27 jurisdictions. BMO Financial Corp. (BFC) is based in Chicago and wholly-owned by Bank of Montreal. BFC operates primarily through its subsidiary BMO Harris Bank N.A. (BHB), which provides banking, financing, investing, and cash management services in select markets in the U.S. Midwest. BMO provides a full range of investment dealer services through entities, including BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., a major fully integrated Canadian investment dealer, and BMO Capital Markets Corp., Bank of Montreal’s wholly-owned registered securities dealer in the United States.
BMO conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking (P&C), made up of Canadian P&C and U.S. P&C; Wealth Management; and BMO Capital Markets. Canadian P&C operates across Canada, offering a broad range of products and services, including banking, lending and treasury management. Operating predominately in the U.S. Midwest under the BMO Harris brand, U.S. P&C offers personal and commercial clients banking, lending, and treasury management products and services. Wealth Management serves a full range of client segments from mainstream to ultra-high net worth and institutional, with a broad offering of wealth management products and services including insurance. Wealth Management is a global business with an active presence in markets across Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. BMO Capital Markets is a North American-based financial services provider offering a complete range of products and services to corporate, institutional and government clients. These include equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, mergers and acquisitions advisory services, securitization, treasury management, risk management, debt and equity research, and institutional sales and trading. With approximately 2,500 professionals in 30 locations around the world, including 16 offices in North America, BMO Capital Markets works proactively with clients to provide innovative and integrated financial solutions. Corporate Services consists of Corporate Units and Technology and Operations (T&O). Corporate Units provide enterprise-wide expertise and governance support in a variety of areas, including strategic planning, risk management, finance, legal and regulatory compliance, marketing, communications and human resources. T&O manages, maintains and provides governance over information technology, operations services, real estate and procurement for the Bank.
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