Bank of Montreal 1999 Annual Report Download - page 54

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Personal and Commercial Client Group
48 Bank of Montreal Group of Companies 1999 Annual Report
Hispanic Banking
1999 Accomplishments:
During 1999, we made important progress with respect to enhancing
our ability to serve the Hispanic personal banking market in Chicago.
Launched a new wire transfer service, enabling Harris clients
to send money to Mexico quickly, efficiently and securely.
The Harris web site (www.harrisbank.com) has also been made
bilingual (English/Spanish).
Chicagoland Community Banking
1999 Accomplishments:
Harris Community Banking enjoyed another strong year by
providing
clients with a broad array of products across multiple
channels, including an enhanced online banking offering.
Through a new market segment and regional management
framework and a redesigned product offering, Community Banking
improved sales effectiveness and tailored services to provide
clients with greater choice.
Community Banking achieved a significant improvement in retail
deposit margins
–
after growing deposits at a rate more than twice
the market growth rate over the last several years.
Increased market share of mortgage originations secured our #2
position in the Chicagoland mortgage and home equity markets.
Three new Hispanic Banking branches were opened, bringing
the total number of bilingual branches serving this attractive,
rapidly growing market to 11
–
in addition to our Spanish-language
call centre and web site.
Standardization of both operating platform and process improve-
ments resulted in substantial productivity gains.
Community Banking delivered superior financial performance,
with income up 39% in 1999.
Strategies for 2000:
Continue to leverage our unique market positioning as the most
“locally rooted, centrally leveraged” financial services provider
in the fragmented, underserved Chicagoland marketplace.
Retail banking will employ a balanced growth and pricing
strategy to maximize profitable growth.
Harris Community Banking will import our highly successful
Canadian small business approach and capability, to grow and
expand our business with this important sector across Chicagoland.
Personal and Commercial Client Group
–
Bancomer
Strategies for 2000:
In 2000, our goal is to extend our services to the Hispanic
community in Chicagoland, working with Bancomer, opening
new bilingual branches and making mbanx PC banking
fully bilingual. We will also begin to extend our services to
Hispanic communities in other areas of the United States.
In the corporate and mid-market, we will continue to
work together with Bancomer, leveraging our combined
capabilities to meet the financing and cash management
needs of our clients doing business in and with Mexico.
Mid-Market Corporate Banking
1999 Accomplishments:
Harris Corporate Banking ranked as the sixth-largest mid-market
corporate bank in the Midwest, gaining more than 750 new
relationships over the past five years, including a net increase
of 110 relationships during the current year.
Asset quality continues to be amongst the best in the United
States, and net interest margin has increased despite increasingly
competitive market conditions.
Asset-based lending is enjoying substantial success in the United
States and beginning to serve the Canadian market as well.
Corporate Trust
1999 Accomplishments:
Corporate Trust group retained its national rank as fourth in
shareholder services and ninth in bond indenture services, while
achieving record growth in high value-added services relating
to structured finance and mergers and acquisitions transactions.
The group inaugurated a new, state-of-the-art systems platform
during the year and substantially web-enabled its delivery plat-
form. Its new call centre also received the International Call
Center’s “Showcase Award” for quality service.
Strategies for 2000:
Focus on organic growth with new higher-value products,
leveraging new technology and improving productivity to
enhance the marketing and value propositions for mid-market
and large corporate clients.
Strategies for 2000:
Leverage our successful relationship advisory approach
emphasizing segmented client coverage and specialized
industry knowledge.
Fully integrate Corporate and Investment Banking to provide
clients with a broad range of capital markets solutions and
investment banking services.
Key Business Strategies:
Bank of Montreal has had a minority investment (16.6% equity/20% voting) and strategic alliance with Grupo Financiero Bancomer since 1996.
Priority joint business areas during 1999 included the Hispanic
retail banking market in the United States and Canada, Corporate
and
Investment Banking, Cross Border Cash Management and various consultative technology transfer initiatives.