TORONTO, Nov. 1, 2019 /CNW/ - BMO Financial Group
(TSX:BMO)(NYSE:BMO) announced its intention to appoint George A. Cope as Chair of the Board upon his
re-election as an independent director at BMO's Annual Meeting on
March 31, 2020. BMO Chair
J. Robert S. Prichard will retire
from the board at that time after 20 years of service as an
independent director and as Chair since 2012.
"George's distinguished record as a public company chief
executive and reputation as a strategic leader committed to
innovation, growth and good governance make him the ideal Chair to
take the board forward," said Mr. Prichard. "I am honoured to have
had the opportunity to serve as a member of the board for the past
two decades and as Chair for the past eight years, and thank my
fellow directors and everyone at BMO for their dedication and
support over the years."
"I am grateful for the Board's confidence and eager to work with
my fellow directors in building on the success achieved under Rob's
leadership. I am fully behind BMO's strong management team and its
plans to deliver on the bank's strategic priorities," said Mr.
Cope. "On behalf of the Board, I offer Rob our thanks for guiding
BMO through a period of tremendous progress while laying the
groundwork for continued success."
Christine Edwards, Chair of BMO's
Governance and Nominating Committee commented, "The Board conducted
a careful and deliberative succession process leading us to
unanimously endorse George Cope as
our next Chair. We look forward to a seamless transition from
Rob to George.'"
Mr. Cope has served as independent director on the BMO board
since 2006 and as a member of the Governance and Nominating
Committee and the Human Resources Committee. He has been President
and Chief Executive Officer of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada since 2008, and will retire from the
role on January 5, 2020. He was
previously Chief Executive Officer of TELUS Mobility and of
Clearnet Communications Inc.
Mr. Cope earned his HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business
at Western University and has been
awarded honorary doctorates by Western, the University of Windsor, Trent
University and Queen's University. Appointed a Member of the
Order of Canada in 2014, Mr. Cope was inducted into the Canadian
Business Hall of Fame in 2018 and was recently recognized by the
Globe and Mail's Report on Business as Corporate Citizen of the
Year for his leadership of the groundbreaking Bell Let's Talk
mental health initiative.
About BMO Financial Group
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly
diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by
assets, in North America. With total assets of $839
billion as of July 31, 2019, and a team of diverse and
highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal
and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking
products and services to more than 12 million customers and
conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and
Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital
Markets.
SOURCE BMO Financial Group