BMO
Company History
BMO History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1817 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
When was BMO founded?
BMO was founded in 1817 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by John Richardson and Austin Cuvillier & Montreal Merchant Syndicate, making it 209 years old.
- Founded
- 1817
- Founding place
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Founders
- John Richardson and Austin Cuvillier & Montreal Merchant Syndicate
- Headquarters today
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Executive Offices: Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
- Milestones documented
- 16 (1817–2024)
- Current CEO
- Darryl White
- Acquisitions
- 5
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1817 | Montreal Bank Founded as Canada's First Bank |
| 1822 | Royal Charter and Renamed Bank of Montreal |
| 1863 | Designated Official Banker to the Government of Canada |
| 1877 | Permanent Agency Opened in New York City |
| 1881 | Financing the Canadian Pacific Railway Transcontinental Line |
| 1977 | Operational Executive Headquarters Established at First Canadian Place |
| 1984 | Acquisition of Harris Bankcorp in Chicago |
| 1987 | Acquisition of Nesbitt Thomson & Capital Markets Expansion |
| 1994 | First Canadian Bank Listed on the New York Stock Exchange |
| 2011 | Acquisition of Marshall & Ilsley (M&I Bank) for $4.1B |
| 2015 | Acquisition of GE Capital's Transportation Finance Portfolio |
| 2017 | Darryl White Appointed Chief Executive Officer |
| 2021 | Announcement of Landmark $16.3B Acquisition of Bank of the West |
| 2023 | Closing and Core Operational Integration of Bank of the West |
| 2024 | BMO Stadium Los Angeles FC Naming Rights Partnership |
| 2024 | Weathering U.S. Credit Cycle with C$32.8B Revenue and C$7.33B Net Income |
- Where was BMO founded?
- BMO was founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1817. bmo.com
- Who founded BMO?
- BMO was founded by John Richardson and Austin Cuvillier & Montreal Merchant Syndicate.
- When did BMO start?
- BMO was founded in 1817.
- How old is BMO?
- BMO is 209 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
In 1817, before Canadian confederation, Montreal merchants lacked a reliable domestic currency and traded in a volatile assortment of foreign silver coins and military army bills. Led by Scottish merchant John Richardson and French-Canadian merchant Austin Cuvillier, nine civic merchants pooled £25,000 to establish Montreal Bank on Saint-Paul Street. By issuing Canada's first official paper banknotes backed by physical gold and silver, Montreal Bank established financial trust, survived the panic of 1819, and created the foundational credit infrastructure of modern Canadian commerce.
Founders
John Richardson
John Richardson (c. 1754–1831) was a prominent Scottish-Canadian merchant, statesman, and politician in Lower Canada who served as the first president of Montreal Bank upon its founding in 1817. A senior partner in the influential fur-trading firm Forsyth, Richardson & Co., Richardson recognized that the colony's reliance on foreign silver coins and army bills severely hindered industrial commerce. He spearheaded the drafting of the bank's original Articles of Association and rules of governance, modeling them after Alexander Hamilton's First Bank of the United States. Richardson's disciplined conservative oversight established the bank's credibility, ensuring that its banknotes were redeemed at face value in gold and silver, which stabilized the colonial financial system and enabled the commercial development of Montreal.
Austin Cuvillier & Montreal Merchant Syndicate
Austin Cuvillier (1779–1849) was an eminent French-Canadian merchant, political reformer, and future Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Canada, who united with eight leading British and Scottish Montreal merchants—including George Moffatt, Horatio Gates, Robert Armour, Thomas A. Turner, John C. Bush, James Leslie, and William Robertson—to establish Montreal Bank on November 3, 1817. Pooling £25,000 in personal capital, this bi-cultural merchant syndicate created Canada's first chartered banking institution. Cuvillier played a pivotal role in bridging British colonial finance and French-Canadian commercial interests, drafting the French-language banking charter and establishing the foundational clearing mechanisms that allowed the bank to serve as the fledgling country's financial backbone.
Key Milestones
Montreal Bank Founded as Canada's First Bank
On November 3, 1817, John Richardson and eight prominent Montreal merchants established Montreal Bank on Saint-Paul Street with £25,000 in capital, issuing Canada's first domestic paper currency and founding the nation's banking system.
Source: bmo.comRoyal Charter and Renamed Bank of Montreal
Received formal royal assent and a royal charter from King George IV and the Parliament of Lower Canada, officially adopting the corporate name Bank of Montreal and gaining permanent legal commercial authority.
Source: bmo.comDesignated Official Banker to the Government of Canada
Appointed as the official government banker, managing federal loans, debt underwriting, foreign exchange, and nationwide currency distribution, serving as Canada's de facto central bank until the Bank of Canada was created in 1935.
Source: bmo.comPermanent Agency Opened in New York City
Established a permanent Wall Street banking agency in New York City, pioneering cross-border corporate trade finance, international gold clearing, and foreign exchange trading between Canada, the U.S., and the United Kingdom.
Source: bmo.comFinancing the Canadian Pacific Railway Transcontinental Line
Served as lead financier, syndicate manager, and treasury underwriter for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), providing vital liquidity to bridge Canada physically and commercially from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Source: bmo.comOperational Executive Headquarters Established at First Canadian Place
Opened operational executive offices at the newly completed First Canadian Place in Toronto, Canada's tallest commercial skyscraper, cementing Toronto as its operational nerve centre while preserving its historic registered head office in Montreal.
Source: bmo.comAcquisition of Harris Bankcorp in Chicago
Acquired Chicago-based Harris Bankcorp for US$547 million, becoming the first Canadian bank to acquire a major American retail and commercial financial institution and establishing a premier U.S. Midwest banking anchor.
Source: bmo.comAcquisition of Nesbitt Thomson & Capital Markets Expansion
Acquired premier Canadian investment dealer Nesbitt Thomson for CAD $291 million following domestic deregulation, subsequently creating BMO Nesbitt Burns and laying the foundational architecture for BMO Capital Markets and Wealth Management.
Source: bmo.comFirst Canadian Bank Listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Became the first Canadian chartered commercial bank to list its common equity shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BMO), dramatically broadening international institutional investor access and U.S. capital liquidity.
Source: sec.govAcquisition of Marshall & Ilsley (M&I Bank) for $4.1B
Acquired Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corporation in an all-stock transaction valued at US$4.1 billion, doubling BMO's U.S. branch network and securing market-leading commercial middle-market positions across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Midwest.
Source: sec.govAcquisition of GE Capital's Transportation Finance Portfolio
Purchased GE Capital's North American Transportation Finance business for US$8.7 billion in net earning assets, establishing BMO as the undisputed number-one equipment financier and commercial lender to the North American commercial trucking and logistics sector.
Source: bmo.comDarryl White Appointed Chief Executive Officer
Darryl White succeeded William Downe as CEO of BMO Financial Group, initiating a comprehensive multi-year strategic modernization focused on digital client experience, cross-border commercial lending, and ESG-aligned sustainable finance.
Source: bmo.comAnnouncement of Landmark $16.3B Acquisition of Bank of the West
Agreed to acquire Bank of the West from BNP Paribas in an all-cash US$16.3 billion transaction—the largest M&A acquisition in Canadian banking history—securing prime commercial and retail branch presence across California and 15 Western states.
Source: sec.govClosing and Core Operational Integration of Bank of the West
Formally closed the US$16.3 billion Bank of the West acquisition on February 1, 2023, subsequently completing core technology systems conversion over Labor Day weekend and onboarding 1.8 million retail, commercial, and agricultural clients into BMO Bank N.A.
Source: sec.govBMO Stadium Los Angeles FC Naming Rights Partnership
Secured exclusive naming rights to BMO Stadium in Exposition Park, Los Angeles—home venue of MLS champions LAFC and the NWSL's Angel City FC—establishing a high-visibility, culturally resonant marketing anchor in Southern California.
Source: bmo.comWeathering U.S. Credit Cycle with C$32.8B Revenue and C$7.33B Net Income
Successfully navigated elevated commercial loan loss provisions following the Bank of the West integration, generating CAD $32.795B in revenue and CAD $7.327B in net income while maintaining a fortress Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio of 12.8% across CAD $1.41 trillion in assets.
Source: bmo.comMajor Acquisitions
Bank of the West
2023Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (M&I Bank)
2011Harris Bankcorp (Harris Bank of Chicago)
1984GE Capital Transportation Finance
2015Nesbitt Thomson Inc.
1987Keep researching BMO
BMO Company History FAQ
When was Bank of Montreal founded and who was its first leader?
Bank of Montreal was founded on November 3, 1817 in Montreal, Lower Canada, by nine prominent civic merchants who pooled £25,000 in startup capital. Scottish-Canadian fur-trade merchant and statesman John Richardson served as the bank's first president, drafting its original Articles of Association modeled after Alexander Hamilton's First Bank of the United States.
Did BMO issue Canada's first official paper currency?
Yes, Montreal Bank issued Canada's first official domestic paper banknotes immediately upon opening its doors in 1817. Because colonial Lower Canada suffered from a chaotic shortage of silver coin and varied foreign currencies, BMO's gold-backed paper notes established commercial trust and served as the nation's primary circulating medium of exchange until the Bank of Canada took over note issuance in 1935.
How did BMO finance the Canadian Pacific Railway?
In 1881, Bank of Montreal served as the primary financial underwriter and syndicate manager for the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Led by bank directors George Stephen and Donald Smith, BMO provided credit facilities and global bond placement in London and New York that allowed the railway to physically bridge the Canadian federation from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
When did BMO first establish its major banking presence in the United States?
BMO first established a Wall Street agency in New York in 1877, but its transformative U.S. retail and commercial banking expansion began in 1984 when it acquired Chicago-based Harris Bankcorp for US$547 million. This historic transaction made BMO the first Canadian chartered bank to acquire a major U.S. commercial bank, creating a four-decade Midwestern anchor that culminated in the 2023 acquisition of Bank of the West.
What is the historical significance of BMO's corporate headquarters?
BMO maintains its historic legal head office at 119 Saint-Jacques Street in Montreal, Quebec, a neoclassical domed building that has housed the bank since 1847. However, its operational executive headquarters was established in 1977 at First Canadian Place in Toronto, Ontario—Canada's tallest commercial office tower—reflecting the shift of Canadian financial gravity while honoring its Quebec roots.
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