Francis Anthony Comper (born 24 April 1945) is a Canadian retired banker who served as president, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (, ), abbreviated as BMO (pronounced ), is a Canadian multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank, making it Canada ...

Early life

Comper attended De La Salle College and received a BA in English from

St. Michael's College, Toronto The University of St. Michael's College (officially called St. Michael's College by the University of Toronto) is a University of Toronto#Colleges, federated college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George ca ...

, in 1966.

Banking

Comper joined the Bank of Montreal as a management trainee after college. In 1990, he became president and chief operating officer. As president, he led The Task Force on the Advancement of Women in the Bank. Today, no fewer than 40 per cent of senior roles at BMO are held by women. He was promoted to chairman and chief executive officer in 1999 after the departure of Matthew Barrett. As part of a corporate governance trend in 2004, he gave up the title of chairman of the board in favor of a non-management director. He has spent four decades at BMO. Comper more than doubled BMO's market cap, to almost $35 billion by the end of fiscal 2006, in an eight-year tenure capped by last year's record profit of $2.7 billion. Comper also managed to sidestep Enron Corp. and other potholes that his peers at some of the other Canadian banks stepped into. In 2020, his memoir, Personal Account: 25 Tales About Leadership, Learning, and Legacy from a Lifetime at Bank of Montreal, was published by ECW Press. In the book, he argues that prudent risk management has long been a hallmark of Canadian banking that sets it apart from many other jurisdictions. Comper has been criticized in the past for his high salary and bonus which, according to some observers, is out of proportion to his value as a president of a fairly standard banking operation. He made $11 million in 2003. His policy of "service shrinkage", or decreasing the number of services offered for the same banking fee, has attracted criticism from customers. In 2006, on his watch, BMO was forced to refund overcharges on mortgage payments of approximately $250 per customer. Comper stepped down on March 1, 2007, at BMO's annual meeting, but stayed on as an adviser until April 24, his 62nd birthday. This announcement came at the same time as BMO posted disappointing fourth quarter results, though they were record profits for the bank due to lower taxes and bad loans. He was succeeded by Bill Downe, who had been the frontrunner for the CEO position for the last few years, and formerly chief operating officer of BMO.

Philanthropy

Comper served as chairman of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

's fundraising program ''Campaign for the University of Toronto'' (1995–2004), as

chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of the University of Toronto's Governing Council (circa 1995–1998) and as vice-chair of St. Michael's Hospital in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Together with his wife Elizabeth, Comper founded

FAST – Fighting Antisemitism Together Fighting Antisemitism Together (FAST) was a Canadian human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal ...

, a Canadian group which opposes

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and which describes itself as "a coalition of non-Jewish Canadian community and business leaders dedicated to speaking out against humanity's oldest hatred." In 2010, Comper was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, along with his wife Elizabeth (1945–2014), "for their commitment to the community at large as active volunteers and philanthropists". He received the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews and the Award of Merit from B'nai B'rith Canada He holds honorary degrees from the University of Toronto (LL.D.), Mount Saint Vincent University (D.Hum.L.), the University of New Brunswick (D.Litt.); and University of Haifa. Tony, and his late wife, Elizabeth, also received the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In November 2009, Concordia University conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (honoris causa) on Tony and Elizabeth. In 2020, Comper's FAST (Fighting Antisemitism Together) joined forces with the Canadian Institute for the Study of Antisemitism. In retirement, he has continued to speak out against intolerance.

Notes

References

Bank of Montreal Board of Directors: F. Anthony Comper
consulted May 20, 2006.
BMO Annual Report. 2005

University of Toronto: Great Past: Anthony Comper
consulted May 20, 2006.
Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry
consulted May 28, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Comper, F. Anthony Businesspeople from Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Directors of Bank of Montreal Bank of Montreal presidents University of Toronto alumni 1945 births Living people Canadian chief executives Canadian corporate directors Canadian chief operating officers