Bank of Montreal 2002 Annual Report Download - page 8

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4BMO FINANCIAL GROUP ANNUAL REPORT
2002
INSIGHTS FROM YOUR MANAGEMENT BOARD
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The BMO Financial Group Management Board Executive Committee (MBEC)comprises
10 members – our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Comper and nine senior
executives from across our organization. Together, the members of MBEC are responsible
for the leadership of BMO Financial Group.
KAREN E. MAIDMENT
Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer,
BMO Financial Group
BMO Financial Group is absolutely committed to financial
leadership. And we are delivering on that commitment.
Financial leadership is about achieving top-tier performance
for our shareholders. It means following the best practices
possible in applying accounting standards. And it means
making a commitment to providing full disclosure of all
business activities. Finally, financial leadership means
being open and honest in explaining results
–
both positive
and negative.
YVAN J.P. BOURDEAU
President and Chief Operating Officer,
BMO Nesbitt Burns
There is no question that this period of weak capital mar
-
kets has created special challenges for market-sensitive
businesses such as ours. That said, we are looking forward
with confidence – and going forward from a position
of strength.
Our 10-year track record shows that we are better managers
of credit risk than any of our competitors. Since 2000, we
have reduced our risk-weighted assets to $56 billion from
$85 billion through a stringent asset portfolio discipline.
Just as important, through the development of robust
capabilities and product offerings in Canada and the
United States, we have begun to actively execute our growth
strategy of building an integrated, full-service, mid-market
North American investment bank, capitalizing on industry
specialties and distinctive capabilities.
LLOYD F. DARLINGTON
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Technology and Solutions, and Head, E-Business
Our strong history of effectively delivering highly
competitive technology support and processing solutions
was reinforced again this year with several implementa-
tions that support BMO Financial Group’s financial and
business strategies.
The rollout of Pathway Connect, a state-of-the-art retail
platform, is but one example of how technology is being
leveraged to support our customer satisfaction and produc-
tivity strategies and goals. We also successfully integrated
a number of acquisitions this year including Joliet and
CSFBdirect.
With an enterprise-wide technology mandate, we are
able to focus on the highest value-creating technology invest-
ment opportunities across the company, leveraging scale
possibilities and maximizing value. Our human resource
practices, our staffing and our commitment to training and
development, and our IT strategy and process disciplines
give us today an organization and cadre of professionals
well positioned to support the company going forward.
In 2002, we were able to decrease our expenses by 5%
from the previous year while providing enhanced capa-
bilities and handling a significant increase in customer
transaction processing.