Bill Downe

Last updated
Bill Downe
Born
William Arthur Downe

1952 (age 70–71)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
OccupationBanker
TitleCEO, Bank of Montreal
TermMarch 2007 – October 2017
Predecessor Tony Comper
Successor Darryl White

William Arthur Downe CM (born 1952) is a Canadian banker who was chief executive officer of Bank of Montreal (also known as BMO Financial Group) from March 1, 2007, to October 31, 2017. [1] [2]

Contents

Career

Downe joined Bank of Montreal in 1983 and held a variety of senior management positions in Canada and the U.S. In 1999, he was appointed vice-chair, Bank of Montreal. From 2001 to 2006, he was deputy chair of BMO Financial Group, and CEO of BMO Capital Markets.

In February 2006, Downe was named chief operating officer and was chosen to replace Tony Comper as president and chief executive officer of BMO effective March 1, 2007, the day of BMO's annual general meeting. [3] [4] [5] [6]

In December 2016, Downe was named a Member of the Order of Canada. [7]

In April 2017, it was announced that Downe would retire as CEO effective on October 31, 2017. He was to be succeeded by current COO Darryl White, who had previously served as Group Head of BMO Capital Markets. [8]

Professional associations

Downe is the only Canadian member of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council of the Mayor of Beijing, [9] and he is a member of the International Advisory Council of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. [10] He is a director of Catalyst, and a member of Catalyst's Canadian Board of Advisors. [10] [11] Downe is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and Past President of the Federal Reserve Board's Federal Advisory Council. [10]

Charity work

Downe served as Chairman of the 2009 Campaign Cabinet for United Way of Greater Toronto. [10] He is a member of the Rotman School of Management Campaign Cabinet, and he sits on the board of Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital Foundation. [10] He is also past Chair of the Board of Directors of St. Michael's Hospital. [10] [12]

Education

Downe has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. [10] While obtaining a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto, he joined the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. [13] In 2003, he received the Rotman Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management. [10] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald J. Carty</span> Canadian-American businessman

Donald J. Carty, is a Canadian-American businessman who serves as chairman of Porter Airlines. Carty also serves as a director of VMWare, Hawaiian Airlines and Betterez. He was previously chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, from 1998 to 2003. He is the past Chairman of Virgin America and E-Rewards, Inc.. Carty is also a past director of Dell, CN Rail, Sears, Placer Dome, Barrick Gold, CHC Helicopters, Brinker International, Talisman Energy, EMC Corporation, and Gluskin Sheff. In January 2007, Carty became the Vice Chairman and chief financial officer of Dell. On June 13, 2008, Carty retired from day-to-day operations, but stayed on as a director. He is a past chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a former member of the Board of Trustees of both Southern Methodist University and Queen's University and of the board of directors of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and the Dallas Theater Center. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the SMU Cox School of Business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of Montreal</span> Canadian financial services company

The Bank of Montreal is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotman School of Management</span>

The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management is the University of Toronto's graduate business school, located in Downtown Toronto. The University of Toronto has been offering undergraduate courses in commerce and management since 1901, but the business school was formally established in 1950 as the Institute of Business Administration. The name was changed to the Faculty of Management Studies in 1972 and subsequently shortened to the Faculty of Management in 1986. The school was renamed in 1997 after Joseph L. Rotman (1935–2015), its principal benefactor.

Joseph Louis Rotman,, was a noted Canadian businessman and philanthropist. Rotman was the founder, benefactor and member of many successful organizations, such as the Clairvest Group Inc., the Rotman Research Institute, the Rotman School of Management, and the Rotman Institute of Philosophy. Throughout his life, he received three honorary degrees, as well as an induction into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. He is well-regarded for donating his time and financial assistance to numerous philanthropic causes including the arts, education and healthcare.

Eva Lee Kwok is a Malaysian-born Canadian business executive and investor. She is currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She spent her early life in Penang, where she attended St. George's Girls' School.

Gordon M. "Gord" Nixon, was the president, CEO and director of Royal Bank of Canada, from 2001 to 2014. He is chairman of Bell Canada Enterprises, lead director of George Weston Limited, director and chairman of the corporate governance committee of BlackRock Inc. and is on the advisory committee of KingSett Capital.

Matthew William Barrett is an Irish-Canadian banker who until 2006 was the Chairman of Barclays Bank. Prior to this, Barrett was Chairman and CEO of the Bank of Montreal where he spent 30 years.

F. Anthony Comper, known as Tony Comper, is a Canadian banker. He served as president and chief executive officer of Bank of Montreal, which currently operates under the brand BMO Financial Group, and retired from that position on March 1, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David A. Galloway</span>

David A. Galloway, a Canadian, was the CEO of Torstar and was chairman of the board of Bank of Montreal from 2004 to 2012, which is also known as BMO Financial Group.

William Edmund "Ed" Clark is the former president and chief executive officer of TD Bank Group. Clark was appointed to this role on December 20, 2002. Prior to this appointment, he was president and chief operating officer of TD Bank Group, a role he held since July 2000. On April 3, 2013, Clark announced his intention to retire as president and CEO effective November 1, 2014 at age 67, after 12 years as CEO. After his retirement, Clark worked as an adviser for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and helped introduce beer and wines into grocery stores and partially privatize the electricity distribution company Hydro One. Currently Clark is Chair of the Vector Institute in Toronto, which he helped to start.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Voser</span> Swiss businessman

Peter Robert Voser is a Swiss businessman, who is the chairman of the Swedish-Swiss company ABB. He was the CEO of the Dutch-British corporation Royal Dutch Shell from July 2009 to December 2013. He was interim CEO of ABB from April 2019 to February 2020. He started his career at Royal Dutch Shell in 1982, working in a number of finance and business roles in different countries. From 2002 to 2005 he was chief financial officer for ABB and Royal Dutch Shell. In 2004, he was appointed Royal Dutch Shell's chief financial officer (CFO) and then CEO in July 2009.

Philip S. Orsino, is a Canadian businessman. He is the former president and chief executive officer of Masonite International Corporation.

Richard William Nesbitt is a Canadian financial executive currently managing KalNes Capital Partners' partner. Previously, he was the president and CEO of Global Risk Institute in Financial Services. In addition, in cooperation with the London School of Economics, he leads the creation of a new research institute, The Inclusion Initiative At LSE, which is mandated to improve diversity and inclusion in the industry. He is also an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto. He teaches a Rotman School of Management course entitled "How Banks Work: Management in a New Regulatory Age." Richard is also chair of the advisory board of the Mind-Brain Behaviour Hive at the same university.

Sherry S. Cooper is a Canadian-American economist. Cooper is currently Chief Economist for Dominion Lending Centres. She was Executive Vice-President and Chief Economist of BMO Financial Group, with responsibilities for economic forecasting and risk assessment. She comments regularly in the press on financial issues.

Louis Vachon is a Canadian banker, financier, and business executive. He is currently the chief executive officer of National Bank of Canada, the 6th largest bank in Canada. Louis Vachon announced his intention to retire on October 31, 2021, after nearly 15 years in the role. He has been CEO since 2007, previously serving as the bank's chief operating officer. Before taking a full-time position at the bank, he was the president and CEO of National Bank Financial Group, the 4th largest investment bank in Canada.

BMO Capital Markets is the investment banking subsidiary of Canadian Bank of Montreal. The company offers corporate, institutional and government clients access to a range of financial services. These include equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, merger and acquisitions advisory services, securitization, treasury management, market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading.

Guardian Capital Group, founded in 1962, operates several fully owned subsidiaries whose operations are to provide investment management services, financial advisory services, retail distribution of mutual funds, insurance, and general corporate services. Guardian Capital Group is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and became publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1969. As of December 31, 2015, the company has $24.2 billion in assets under management.

David Ian McKay is a Canadian banking executive. He is the president and CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of Canada's largest banks and one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. He is both a member and a Board of Director at the Business Council of Canada, and serves on the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board. McKay also serves as the chair of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darryl White (banker)</span> Canadian banker

Darryl White is a Canadian banker, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bank of Montreal, since 1 November 2017, when he succeeded Bill Downe.

R. Jeffrey Orr is a Canadian businessman and is the president and chief executive of Power Corporation of Canada.

References

  1. ↑ "Executive Profile - William A. Downe". Businessweek. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Big Five banks' CEO cycle is complete. Here's how they performed". Canadian Business.
  3. ↑ "Tony Comper to Retire as President and CEO of BMO Financial Group; Board Appoints Bill Downe as His Successor". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
  4. ↑ "BMO's Tony Comper to retire in March". 28 November 2006. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010.
  5. ↑ "Storytelling experiment PenTales comes to Toronto | National Post". March 30, 2010.
  6. ↑ "The Globe and Mail: BMO boss launches charity blitz". The Globe and Mail . Archived from the original on 22 January 2011.
  7. ↑ "Order of Canada's newest appointees include Paralympian, Supreme Court judge and astrophysicist". CBC News, December 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Bank of Montreal CEO Bill Downe to retire in October, COO Darryl White to take the helm | Financial Post". April 7, 2017.
  9. ↑ Brearton, Steve (15 December 2016). "The Power List: Canada's Most Powerful Business People 2017". Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wendel, Amy. "CEO profile: Bill Downe, Bank of Montreal | Leadership & Strategy | Business Chief North America". Business Chief. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  11. ↑ "Catalyst women's organization defends choosing a man to head advisory board, again | CBC Radio". CBC. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  12. ↑ "William Downe at a glance". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  13. ↑ Catalogue of the Alpha Delta Phi: 1832-2002. New York, NY: The Executive Council of The Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. 2002. p. 319.
  14. ↑ "Speaker Profile William Downe". The Economic Club of Canada. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
Business positions
Preceded by CEO of Bank of Montreal
March 2007 – October 2017		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.