BMO Financial Group ranked in the 91st percentile of banks globally on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.

The DJSI ranks companies’ sustainability performance across three dimensions: governance and economic, environmental and social sustainability. BMO earned the highest possible score in the areas of customer relationship management, financial inclusion, environmental reporting and social reporting. The bank also was recognized for strong performance in human capital development, talent attraction and retention, information security/cybersecurity and corporate governance.

“Sustainability is a key pillar of BMO’s Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life and we are delighted to be recognized for the achievement,” Simon Fish, general counsel for BMO and chair of BMO’s sustainability council, said. “Together with the Wall Street Journal‘s recent ranking of BMO as one of the most sustainably managed companies in the world, inclusion in the DJSI North America Index is an honor and a strong affirmation of our commitment to environmental and social sustainability now and in the future.”

BMO Financial Group’s Recent Sustainability Actions

  • In 2019, BMO unveiled its Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good initiative.
  • BMO unveiled a sustainability disclosure, including climate-related risks and opportunities in line with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards.
  • In 2019, BMO issued a $500 million sustainability bond, with use of proceeds tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
  • In October 2020, BMO reached a key milestone in matching 100% of electricity usage with renewable electricity.
  • In June 2019, BMO announced it would double the bank’s mobilization of sustainable finance to $400 billion by 2025, including an impact investment fund with $250 million in seed capital to find and scale solutions to sustainability.
  • In May 2020, BMO signed the Operating Principles for Impact Investment, a gold standard for impact investment fund management developed by the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank.
  • BMO was the first Canadian bank to sign the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles in 2019. In 2018, BMO committed to make $3 billion in capital available to women business owners in Canada over three years.
  • In 2020, BMO launched BMO EMpower, a $5 billion commitment over five years to address key barriers faced by minority businesses, communities and families in the United States.