Bank of Montreal

Established in 1817 in Montreal, Canada, the Bank of Montreal is traded at the stock exchanges in Toronto and New York under the ticker BMO. This body the oldest bank in the country and currently, it is the sixth largest financial and banking services provider in terms of deposits. The bank has over 36,000 officials and more than 1,100 branches in Canada and around the world, serving more than seven million clients.

BMO’s personal finances division offers the full range of retail banking products and services for individual clients including single-fee, single-statement chequing and savings accounts, various credit and debits cards, including no-fee debit cards and credit cards with cash-back programs, special bank cards intended for students and young people at preferential service rates, etc. Furthermore, the bank’s loan portfolio includes variable and fixed-rate mortgage plans, easy solutions for first-time home-buyers, and flexible payment options such as lump-sum payment, skip-payment option, and low-amortization plans and mortgage insurances. Along with these services, the bank offers personal and equity loans, as well as loans based on an registered retirement savings plan, lines of credit for personal needs, and such intended for homeowners and students, investment lending and credit insurance services.

The Bank of Montreal personal finances unit offers comfortable investment options such as guaranteed investment certificates and term deposits, mutual funds, various retirement savings plans and registered retirement income funds. These services are complemented by registered disability savings plans, education savings, plans and tax free savings accounts.

The bank’s insurance solutions for individual clients encompass universal, permanent, and guaranteed life insurance packages, critical illness insurance, accident and travel insurance, etc. With regard to travel insurance, the offered package covers medical expenses, emergency hospital care and room charges, ambulance service, diagnostic tests and treatment by medical practitioner, as well as all prescribed medications. There are plenty of life insurance plans depending on whether the client is a home owner, parent, cohabitating, divorced, business owner, retired, etc.

The business banking division of the Bank of Montreal offers a wide range of integrated banking and financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises such as business accounts and banking plans, business financing solutions, including flexible commercial mortgages, commercial lines of credit, fixed and floating-rate term loans, business credit cards, small business financing options, and commercial loan insurance plans. Further, the business investment unit of BMO Financial Group offers a set of flexible investment solutions such as short and long term investment and retirement planning. In addition, the business banking division of the Bank of Montreal offers cash management services: management of payments and receivables, information managementm and international business assistance. The Bank of Montreal also offers special financing solutions for the different business sectors, as well as an online business banking service.

BMO Capital Markets is the corporate and institutional banking division of BMO Financial Group, offering premium banking and financial services to large corporate bodies, governments and state institutions in Canada and across the globe. The range of its products encompasses corporate lending, investment advisory and corporate banking services, treasury and capital-flow services, market analyses and risk assessment solutions, corporate debt research, institutional investing, mergers and acquisitions’ monitoring and advisory, etc. At the beginning of 2010, BMO Capital Market has eyed considerable opportunities for development at the Chinese and Indian markets, offering its corporate banking services to the resource-hungry, state-run enterprises in the two countries.

At the end of financial year 2009, BMO Financial Group reported some quite encouraging financial results, including net income of 1.1 billion US dollars, $10.5 billion in total revenues and total assets of over 460 billion US dollars.