‘A nice way to finish’

HOW RETIRING CEO BILL DOWNE TURNED 200-YEAR-OLD BMO FROM LAGGARD TO LEADER

It’s a sunny, sweltering July day in London, and inside the Bank of Montreal’s low-rise offices a stone’s throw from the Bank of England and St. Paul’s Cathedral, Bill Downe has history on his mind.

Wearing a blue suit, BMO cuff links and his Order of Canada pin, the BMO chief executive is in the British capital for celebrations marking his bank’s 200th anniversary and its long legacy in the U.K.

BMO became Canada’s first bank in 1817 — a full 50 years before the Dominion of Canada came to be — and began doing business in London a year later. It opened a permanent office in London in 1870, and continued to extend its reach across the globe as the principal agent for a united Canada.

While most of the artifacts tracing the bank’s history now sit in a climatecontrolled vault in Montreal, some are on display here: A Bank of Montreal note from before the Bank of Canada assumed the exclusive right to issue Canadian currency; a weathered pass book from the Bank of British North America (which the Bank of Montreal absorbed in 1918); a 15-centimetrethick, leather-bound hand-written deposit ledger from 1927.

But the bank’s bicentennial isn’t the only milestone that’s approaching. In November, shortly before BMO’s official anniversary, Downe will be retiring, after more than three decades with the company, 10 of them at the helm.

"Having worked here for almost 35 years, I’ve seen lots of change, and a tremendous amount of growth,” he says, noting the timing of his departure with the bicentennial was not deliberate. “It’s a very nice way to finish what will be a long career in banking. Just a reflection that history matters, and it matters because it informs the future.”