Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> September 1, 2003
WILLIAM DOWNE is Deputy Chairman of BMO Financial Group and Chief
Executive Officer of BMO Nesbitt Burns and Head of Investment Banking,
positions to which he was appointed effective May 1, 2001. Overseeing
both the Investment Banking Group and the Private Client Group, he has
responsibility for all of the businesses in BMO Financial Group in
Canada and the US directed at corporate and institutional and at
individual investing clients. As of September 2002, Mr. Downe also
assumed responsibility for all US operations, including Harris Bank,
BMO's Chicago-based retail banking division. After completing his
Bachelor of Arts degree from Waterloo Lutheran University, Mr. Downe
graduated with a Master of Business Administration from the University
of Toronto in 1978. Mr. Downe joined Bank of Montreal in 1983 as a
Credit Analyst and then held a variety of senior management positions in
corporate and government banking in Houston and Denver. In 1992, Mr.
Downe was named Senior Vice President, U.S. Corporate Banking. In 1996
he was appointed Executive Vice President, North American Corporate
Banking and in 1998 took on responsibility for Global Fixed Income and
Global Treasury. In 1999 he was appointed Vice Chair Bank of Montreal. Profile
overview of your business groups?
Mr. Downe: Bank of Montreal is one of the five large Canadian-based
banks and
