Bank of Montreal 1997 Annual Report Download - page 11

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Bank of Montreal 180th Annual Report 1997 9
Regulation for Growth
As we approach the next century, the North American banking
industry is confronting not one, but four, powerful drivers of
change: information and technology, globalization, demographics
and financial disintermediation.
The magnitude and the pace of this change have raised
serious questions about the structure of the Canadian financial
services industry and its ability to serve the needs of Canadian
businesses and consumers. In a rapidly changing global economy,
government regulations must also evolve, reflecting new realities
while protecting the public interest.
To help ensure the regulations governing the industry
are kept effective and relevant, the Bank has offered its per-
spective on regulatory reform in
Policy Alterna
tives for
Canadian Financial Services
, a study submitted to the federal
government’s Task Force on the Future of the Canadian
Financial Services Sector earlier this year.
No more important issue faces the Canadian banking
industry than the development of a modern, workable and equi-
table regulatory framework, and we invite you, our shareholders,
to take an active role in this process. We encourage you to make
your voices heard by taking part in this debate.
Corporate Governance
Bank of Montreal is an acknowl-
edged leader in the field of
corporate governance. We recog-
nize, however, that a sound and
responsive system of corporate
governance cannot be based
on fixed and immutable structures
and processes. In the past year,
the Bank has completed a com-
prehensive review of its corporate
governance practices and has
instituted some major revisions to
them. A complete discussion of
the Bank’s corporate governance
practices can be found on page 91.
Providing a framework
for shareholder value
Stewardship