William A. Downe CM (born 1952) is a Canadian banker, who was chief executive officer of

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

(also known as BMO Financial Group) from March 1, 2007 to October 31, 2017.

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 A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

and was chosen to replace

Tony Comper F. Anthony Comper (born April 24, 1945), known as Tony Comper, is a Canadian banker. He served as president and chief executive officer of Bank of Montreal, which currently operates under the brand BMO Financial Group, and retired from that posit ...

as president and chief executive officer of BMO effective March 1, 2007, the day of BMO's annual general meeting. In December 2016, Downe was named a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ce ...

. 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 Darryl White (born 12 June 1973) is an Australian rules footballer whose career with the Brisbane Bears and Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL) lasted from 1992 to 2005. An Indigenous Australian, in 2005 he was named at fullback in ...

, who had previously served as Group Head of BMO Capital Markets.

Professional associations

Downe is the only Canadian member of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council of the Mayor of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, and he is a member of the International Advisory Council of Guanghua School of Management at

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

. He is a director of Catalyst, and a member of Catalyst's Canadian Board of Advisors. Downe is also a member of the Economic Club of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and Past President of the

Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...

's Federal Advisory Council.

Charity work

Downe served as Chairman of the 2009 Campaign Cabinet for United Way of Greater

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. He is a member of the

Rotman School of Management The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management (commonly known as the Rotman School of Management, the Rotman School or just Rotman) is the University of Toronto's graduate business school, located in Downtown Toronto. The University of Toronto has be ...

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.

Education

Downe has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campus ...

. While obtaining a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

, he joined the

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Cli ...

fraternity. In 2003, he received the Rotman Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management.

References

External links

Biography of William Downe at BMO corporate site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downe, Bill 1952 births Living people Bank of Montreal presidents Businesspeople from Ontario University of Toronto alumni Wilfrid Laurier University alumni Directors of Bank of Montreal Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian chief executives Chief operating officers Members of the Order of Canada