BMO Capital Markets lays off employees to cut costs

TORONTO – BMO Capital Markets has laid off about 60 employees across its North American operation, part of a move to cut costs in the face of slowing revenues and economic uncertainty.

The news comes a day after the wholesale banking division of Bank of Montreal an- nounced the retirement of its longtime head of investment and commercial banking, Bill Butt.

BMO has not announced a replacement for Butt, a highly regarded executive who has been with the bank for 19 years.

“We continue to build our North American platform with a unified approach to client coverage while ensur- ing staffing levels are commensurate with the capital markets environment,” Canada’s fourth biggest bank said in a statement. “The reductions are part of our focus on productivity and we would expect to continue to be hiring over the course of the year as we grow our businesses.”

All the domestic banks have been cutting costs and reducing staffing levels in recent months as they prepare for what many economists expect will be a difficult economy with slow growth for at least another year.

Analysts warn that capital markets businesses will be among the most affected amid continued volatility and rock-bottom interest rates.

Last week ratings giant Moody’s Investor Services put 17 global banks on notice of a possible downgrade because of their capital markets exposure and the increasingly negative environment in the sector.

BMO Capital Markets has 2,300 employees in 30 offices around the world, roughly half of them in North America.