- Business
- Bank of Montreal Bank of Montreal (BMO) operates as a diversified financial services provider offering personal and commercial banking, wealth management, and capital markets services to individual, business, institutional, and government clients primarily in Canada and the United States. The company provides deposit-taking products including checking, savings, and term deposit accounts; lending solutions such as residential and commercial mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, and lines of credit; wealth management offerings encompassing investment advisory, asset management, retirement planning, insurance products including life, critical illness, annuities, segregated funds, group creditor, and travel insurance; and capital markets services featuring debt and equity underwriting, mergers and acquisitions advice, loan syndication, treasury management, brokerage, and trading in equities, fixed income, and derivatives. BMO conducts operations through approximately 1,500 branches across North America with key hubs in Montreal, Toronto, and Chicago, serving over 13 million customers globally including select international markets; founded in 1817, it maintains its head office in Montreal, Quebec, and operational headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. In recent developments, BMO completed the acquisition of Burgundy Asset Management in 2025 to bolster its wealth management capabilities; announced in October 2025 a branch optimization strategy involving the sale of 138 U.S. branches to First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company in mid-2026 while planning to open 150 new branches over the next five years focused on high-growth markets like California; and in August 2025 initiated a new normal course issuer bid to repurchase up to 30 million common shares following termination of a prior bid.