- Furthers its Growing the Good commitment to enable a
sustainable future
TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - BMO Financial Group
(TSX:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) today announced the closing of its inaugural
U.S. $500-million 3-year
Sustainability Bond to support the Bank's commitment to sustainable
finance. Proceeds of the Sustainability Bond will be allocated
toward eligible green and social asset categories, including
renewable energy, green buildings and
infrastructure, pollution prevention and control, sustainable
land use, women-owned small and medium businesses, Indigenous
communities, and other eligible categories as defined in BMO's
Sustainable Financing Framework.
"With the issuance of our first Sustainability Bond, we are
strengthening our Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good, in business and
life," said Steve Lobo, Treasurer,
BMO Financial Group. "We are focused on driving positive change,
whether through similar bond issuances in the future or the many
solutions we are building. We will remain an active participant in
capital markets to play our part in achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals."
In September 2019, BMO published
the Sustainable Financing Framework that aligns to BMO's Purpose
and its promise to grow the good for a sustainable future, a
thriving economy, and an inclusive society.
The Framework defines eligible assets across seven green and
four social project categories that link to the United Nations 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. Each category contributes to
specific Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations to
solve the sustainability challenges facing the world. In line with
market best practice, the Framework is aligned to the ICMA Green
Bond Principles and Social Bond Principles and obtained a second
party opinion from Sustainalytics.
In June, BMO committed to mobilizing $400
billion by 2025, through the following:
- Advising and management of $250
billion in client investments for sustainable objectives;
and
- $150 billion in capital to
companies pursuing sustainable outcomes.
In addition, the Bank has announced the creation of an impact
investment fund, with $250 million in
seed capital, to find and scale solutions to sustainability
problems.
Additional information on the current Sustainability Bond
issuance
The Sustainability Bonds will bear interest at a
fixed rate of 2.050 per cent per annum and will mature on
November 1, 2022. The Sustainability Bonds constitute deposit
liabilities of BMO Financial Group pursuant to the Bank Act
(Canada), are unsubordinated and
unsecured obligations of the Bank and rank pari passu with all
present or future unsubordinated and unsecured obligations of the
Bank without any preference among themselves (except as otherwise
prescribed by law and subject to the exercise of the Bank
resolution powers).
The Sustainability Bonds are bail-inable notes. Bail-inable
notes are subject to conversion in whole or in part—by means of a
transaction or series of transactions and in one or more steps—into
common shares of the Bank or any of its affiliates under subsection
39.2(2.3) of the Canada Deposit Incorporation Act (CDIC Act) and to
variation or extinguishment in consequence, and subject to the
application of the laws of the Province of Quebec and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein in respect of the
operation of the CDIC Act with respect to the Sustainability
Bonds.
The offering was distributed by a syndicate co-led by BMO
Capital Markets. The offering closed on October 21, 2019. BMO
will report publicly on the use of the BMO Sustainability Bond
proceeds within one year of issuance and annually thereafter.
About BMO Financial Group
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly
diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by
assets, in North America. With total assets of $839
billion as of July 31, 2019, and a team of diverse and
highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal
and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking
products and services to more than 12 million customers and
conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and
Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital
Markets.
Disclaimer
This press release does not constitute or form part of and
should not be construed as, an offer to sell or issue or the
solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire Sustainability Bonds of
Bank of Montreal in any
jurisdiction, including the United
States, or an inducement to enter into investment activity.
No part of this press release, nor the fact of its distribution,
should form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any
contract or commitment or investment decision whatsoever. The
distribution of this press release and of the information it
contains may be subject to legal restrictions in some
countries.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. All
such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions
of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
any applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking
statements in this press release may include, but are not limited
to, statements with respect to our objectives and priorities for
fiscal 2019 and beyond, our strategies or future actions, our
targets, and include statements of our management. Forward-looking
statements are typically identified by words such as "will",
"would", "should", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "project",
"intend", "estimate", "plan", "goal", "target", "may" and
"could".
By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make
assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties,
both general and specific in nature. There is significant risk that
predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove
to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct, and that
actual results may differ materially from such predictions,
forecasts, conclusions or projections. These risks include the risk
that the businesses and projects funded with the proceeds from the
Sustainability Bonds will not meet our Sustainable Financing
Framework or an investor's expectations or requirements, whether as
to sustainability impact or outcome or otherwise; and the risk that
we may not be able to allocate the proceeds of the Sustainability
Bonds to finance eligible businesses and projects. We caution
readers of this press release not to place undue reliance on our
forward-looking statements, as a number of factors – many of which
are beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to
predict – could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or
events to differ materially from the targets, expectations,
estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking
statements.
The future outcomes that relate to forward-looking statements
may be influenced by many factors, including but not limited to:
general economic and market conditions in the countries in which we
operate; the Canadian housing market; weak, volatile or illiquid
capital and/or credit markets; interest rate and currency value
fluctuations; changes in monetary, fiscal, or economic policy and
tax legislation and interpretation; the level of competition in the
geographic and business areas in which we operate; changes in laws
or in supervisory expectations or requirements, including capital,
interest rate and liquidity requirements and guidance, and the
effect of such changes on funding costs; judicial or regulatory
proceedings; the accuracy and completeness of the information we
obtain with respect to our customers and counterparties; failure of
third parties to comply with their obligations to us; our ability
to execute our strategic plans and to complete and integrate
acquisitions, including obtaining regulatory approvals; critical
accounting estimates and the effect of changes to accounting
standards, rules and interpretations on these estimates;
operational and infrastructure risks, including with respect to
reliance on third parties; changes to our credit ratings; political
conditions, including changes relating to or affecting economic or
trade matters; global capital markets activities; the possible
effects on our business of war or terrorist activities; outbreaks
of disease or illness that affect local, national or international
economies; natural disasters and disruptions to public
infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or
water supply; technological changes; information and cyber
security, including the threat of hacking, identity theft and
corporate espionage, as well as the possibility of denial of
service resulting from efforts targeted at causing system failure
and service disruption; and our ability to anticipate and
effectively manage risks arising from all of the foregoing
factors.
We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all
possible factors. Other factors and risks could adversely affect
our results. For more information, please see the discussion in the
Risks That May Affect Future Results section, and the sections
related to credit and counterparty, market, insurance, liquidity
and funding, operational, model, legal and regulatory, business,
strategic, environmental and social, and reputation risk, in the
Enterprise-Wide Risk Management section which begin on page 78 of
BMO's 2018 Annual Report, and the Risk Management section of our
Third Quarter 2019 Report to Shareholders, all of which outline
certain key factors and risks that may affect our future results.
Investors and others should carefully consider these factors and
risks, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and the
inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements. We do not
undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether written
or oral, that may be made from time to time by the organization or
on its behalf, except as required by law.
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SOURCE BMO Financial Group