Six Bankers Depart Bank of Montreal After Misconduct Probe Into Bullying

Six people have left Bank of Montreal after an investigation into “completely unacceptable” behavior in its investment banking group.

Author of the article:

Bloomberg News

Christine Dobby and Jacob Lorinc

Published Jan 25, 2024 • 1 minute read

The Bank of Montreal (BMO) headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Rising rates are expanding Canadian banks’ net interest margin, but a flatter and inverted yield curve limits upside, and a peak may come in 2023. Photo by Della Rollins /Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Six people have left Bank of Montreal after an investigation into “completely unacceptable” behavior in its investment banking group.

The Toronto-based bank launched a probe after a young male banker raised concerns about harassment and bullying, Canada’s Globe and Mail said. The newspaper reported that the person, who worked in the bank’s mining and metals group, was subjected to homophobic slurs in person and online.

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“An employee escalated a complaint that alleged completely unacceptable behavior. We take matters of misconduct very seriously. An investigation was launched immediately. Six individuals are no longer with the bank,” spokesperson Kelly Hechler said in an email.

Four of the six were fired and two resigned, the Globe said, citing a person familiar with the matter it didn’t identify. The report added that five of the six employees were junior bankers in the mining group and the other was a director who supervised them.

In a memo circulated to staff last week, BMO Capital Markets Chief Executive Officer Alan Tannenbaum said the bank should be an inclusive environment where all employees feel safe, and that inappropriate behavior won’t be tolerated, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The consequences are serious and staff should speak up when something seems wrong, Tannenbaum added in the note.

“All employees attest to and are expected to meet our standard of respect, inclusivity and professionalism,” spokesperson Hechler said. “Breaches of this standard are not tolerated and are subject to disciplinary actions up to and including termination of employment.”

(Updated with memo from capital markets head.)

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