Bill Downe
{{Short description|Canadian banker}}
{{distinguish|Bill Down|Bill Downie|Bill Downey}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bill Downe
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| birth_name = William Arthur Downe
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1952}}
| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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| occupation = Banker
| title = CEO, Bank of Montreal
| term = March 2007 – October 2017
| predecessor = Tony Comper
| successor = Darryl White
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William Arthur Downe {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} (born 1952) is a Canadian banker who was chief executive officer of Bank of Montreal (also known as BMO Financial Group) from March 1, 2007, to October 31, 2017.{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=224513&ticker=BMO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129034635/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=224513&ticker=BMO|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 29, 2013|title=Executive Profile - William A. Downe |publisher=Businessweek|access-date=4 February 2013}}{{Cite web|title=The Big Five banks' CEO cycle is complete. Here's how they performed|url=https://www.canadianbusiness.com/leadership/big-five-banks-succession/|website=Canadian Business}}
Career
Downe joined Bank of Montreal in 1983 and held a variety of senior management positions in Canada and the U.S. In 1999, he was appointed vice-chair, Bank of Montreal. From 2001 to 2006, he was deputy chair of BMO Financial Group, and CEO of BMO Capital Markets.
In February 2006, Downe was named chief operating officer and was chosen to replace Tony Comper as president and chief executive officer of BMO effective March 1, 2007, the day of BMO's annual general meeting.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2006/28/c9207.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930211026/http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2006/28/c9207.html|url-status=dead|title=Tony Comper to Retire as President and CEO of BMO Financial Group; Board Appoints Bill Downe as His Successor|archive-date=September 30, 2007}}{{Cite web|date=28 November 2006|title=BMO's Tony Comper to retire in March|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bmo-s-tony-comper-to-retire-in-march-1.571089|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117055630/http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2006/11/28/comper.html|archive-date=17 January 2010}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.nationalpost.com/afterword/storytelling-experiment-pentales-comes-to-toronto|title=Storytelling experiment PenTales comes to Toronto | National Post|date=March 30, 2010}}{{Cite web|title=The Globe and Mail: BMO boss launches charity blitz|website=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/streetwise/bmo-boss-launches-charity-blitz/article1288032/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122213129/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/streetwise/bmo-boss-launches-charity-blitz/article1288032/|archive-date=22 January 2011}}
In December 2016, Downe was named a Member of the Order of Canada.[http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/order-canada-newest-appointees-2016-150-1.3916634 "Order of Canada's newest appointees include Paralympian, Supreme Court judge and astrophysicist"]. CBC News, December 30, 2016.
In April 2017, it was announced that Downe would retire as CEO effective on October 31, 2017. He was to be succeeded by current COO Darryl White, who had previously served as Group Head of BMO Capital Markets.{{Cite web|url=https://financialpost.com/news/fp-street/bank-of-montreal-ceo-bill-downe-to-retire-in-october-coo-darryl-white-to-take-the-helm|title=Bank of Montreal CEO Bill Downe to retire in October, COO Darryl White to take the helm | Financial Post|date=April 7, 2017}}
Professional associations
Downe is the only Canadian member of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council of the Mayor of Beijing,{{Cite web|last=Brearton|first=Steve|date=15 December 2016|title=The Power List: Canada's Most Powerful Business People 2017|url=https://www.canadianbusiness.com/lists-and-rankings/most-powerful-people/power-list-2017-top-25/image/20/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104123309/http://www.canadianbusiness.com/lists-and-rankings/most-powerful-people/power-list-2017-top-25/image/20/|archive-date=4 November 2017|access-date=3 December 2020}} and he is a member of the International Advisory Council of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University.{{Cite web|last=Wendel|first=Amy|title=CEO profile: Bill Downe, Bank of Montreal {{!}} Leadership & Strategy {{!}} Business Chief North America|url=https://www.businesschief.com/leadership-and-strategy/ceo-profile-bill-downe-bank-montreal|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Business Chief|date=19 May 2020 |language=en}} He is a director of Catalyst, and a member of Catalyst's Canadian Board of Advisors.{{Cite news|date=15 September 2017|title=Catalyst women's organization defends choosing a man to head advisory board, again {{!}} CBC Radio|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4291773/catalyst-women-s-organization-defends-choosing-a-man-to-head-advisory-board-again-1.4291782|access-date=2020-12-03}} Downe is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and Past President of the Federal Reserve Board's Federal Advisory Council.
Charity work
Downe served as Chairman of the 2009 Campaign Cabinet for United Way of Greater Toronto. He is a member of the Rotman School of Management Campaign Cabinet, and he sits on the board of Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital Foundation. He is also past Chair of the Board of Directors of St. Michael's Hospital.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/william-downe/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230234537/http://www.forbes.com/profile/william-downe/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 30, 2012|title=William Downe at a glance|work=Forbes|access-date=22 February 2013}}
Education
Downe has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. While obtaining a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto, he joined the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.{{cite book|title=Catalogue of the Alpha Delta Phi: 1832-2002|date=2002|publisher=The Executive Council of The Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity|location=New York, NY|page=319}} In 2003, he received the Rotman Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management.{{cite web|url=http://www.economicclub.ca/speakers/William_Downe|title=Speaker Profile William Downe|publisher=The Economic Club of Canada|access-date=17 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220050229/http://www.economicclub.ca/speakers/William_Downe|archive-date=20 December 2012|url-status=dead}}
References
External links
- [http://www2.bmo.com/bio/article/0,1099,contentCode-406_divId-4_langId-1_navCode-132,00.html Biography of William Downe at BMO corporate site]
- [https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-10080 Order of Canada citation]
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{{succession box |title=CEO of Bank of Montreal |before=Tony Comper |years=March 2007 – October 2017 |after=Darryl White}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Downe, Bill}}
Category:Bank of Montreal presidents
Category:Businesspeople from Ontario
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:Wilfrid Laurier University alumni
Category:Directors of Bank of Montreal
Category:Businesspeople from Montreal
Category:Canadian chief executives