News Releases
Toronto, February 25, 2009 – BMO Financial Group's Corporate Responsibility Report and 2008 Public Accountability Statement is now available at www.bmo.com/community. The Report provides information specific to the organization's commitment to responsible and ethical corporate behaviour, environmental sustainability and to its wide-ranging support of the communities it serves.
“Being a responsible corporation starts with setting accountabilities toward our employees, our communities, our environment – and toward the people we serve: our customers,” said Bill Downe, President and CEO, BMO Financial Group.
“In 2008, we continued to invest in our neighbourhoods, towns and regions and to support communities and thousands of charities and not-for-profit organizations in Canada and the United States. Our commitment to helping meet the needs of the many organizations and groups that make our communities strong is part of the definition of who we are as a company – and something in which all of us at BMO take great pride.
“We have a long history of being there for our customers in good times and bad. Our reputation for working with our business customers through the economic cycles is something to which we attach great importance -- so is being the bank of choice for businesses across Canada. In fiscal 2008, we increased our business debt financing by 13.2%, year-over-year, to $142 billion,” said Mr. Downe.
BMO's investment in community takes us beyond financing and providing financial support. As a responsible corporate citizen, we also support financial literacy.
- Towards that end, BMO continues to be the official sponsor of The Learning Partnership's Entrepreneurial Adventure (EA) program, an experiential learning opportunity that brings students and teachers from kindergarten to grade 12 together with business partners to create ventures that benefit their local communities.
- BMO continues to improve the accessibility of our products and services in an increasingly diverse marketplace and through the different phases of the credit cycle.
- BMO introduced new services to assist students and first-time homebuyers including the BMO First Home Essentials kit, which was created as a step-by-step guide for first-time homebuyers. The kit includes helpful tips, worksheets, calculators and an online planning tool that helps prospective homebuyers understand and navigate comfortably through the entire home purchasing process.
- We continue to focus on providing small- and medium-sized businesses with the tools and resources they need to succeed. The Canadian Public Relations Society awarded a gold medal to BMO Bank of Montreal's Business Coach Podcast Series for the best use of internet and audio visual communications tools to help small business customers develop business plans and manage their cash flow efficiently.
- BMO also created a nationwide seminar program to help small business owners achieve their bottom line objectives and gain insights into longer-range challenges such as Succession Planning.
- BMO consistently responded to the needs of its customers; for example, we hosted a symposium to help Toronto's Chinese business community deal with the global financial crisis.
- Our commitment
to help customers make sense of their financial lives – and
make better financial decisions – is clear.
This year, as part of an effort to make a positive contribution to environmental sustainability, BMO's Corporate Responsibility Report and 2008 Public Accountability Statement is exclusively available in electronic format. To read more about BMO's corporate citizenship activities, please visit www.bmo.com/community.
- 30 -