TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) today
announced its intention, subject to the approval of the Office of
the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) and the
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to purchase for cancellation up to
22.5 million of its common shares under a normal course issuer bid.
Purchases will be made through the facilities of the TSX and may
also be made through other designated exchanges and alternative
Canadian trading systems or by such other means as may be permitted
by a securities regulatory authority, including under automatic
purchase plans, block purchases, private agreements or share
repurchase programs under exemption orders issued by securities
regulatory authorities (Exemption Orders).
Bank of Montreal (the Bank)
intends to file a notice of intention with the TSX in this regard
and, subject to regulatory approvals, the bid would commence
following TSX acceptance of the notice and continue for up to one
year. The common shares that may be repurchased represent
approximately 3.5 per cent of the 'public float' (as such term is
defined in the TSX Company Manual) of common shares as at
November 30, 2021. The timing and
amount of any purchases under the program are subject to regulatory
approvals and to management discretion based on factors such as
market conditions. Except for any purchases made under an Exemption
Order, which will generally be at a discount to the prevailing
market price, the Bank will pay the market price for the shares at
the time of acquisition.
There were 648,259,395 Bank of Montreal common shares issued and outstanding
as at November 30, 2021, and the
public float was 648,071,940 common shares.
The Bank's prior normal course issuer bid for the purchase of up
to 15 million common shares expired on June
2, 2020. Over the term of the prior bid, the Bank did not
purchase any of its common shares.
Bank of Montreal's common
shares are listed on both the Toronto and New
York stock exchanges.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Bank of Montreal's public
communications often include written or oral forward-looking
statements. Statements of this type are included in this document,
and may be included in other filings with Canadian securities
regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or in
other communications. 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 document may include, but are
not limited to, statements with respect to our objectives and
priorities for fiscal 2022 and beyond, our strategies or future
actions, our targets and commitments (including with respect to net
zero emissions), expectations for our financial condition, capital
position or share price, the regulatory environment in which we
operate, the results of, or outlook for, our operations or for the
Canadian, U.S. and international economies, and the COVID-19
pandemic, and include statements made by our management.
Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such
as "will", "would", "should", "believe", "expect", "anticipate",
"project", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "goal", "commit",
"target", "may", "might", "schedule", "forecast" and "could" or
negative or grammatical variations thereof.
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. The uncertainty created by
the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened this risk, given the increased
challenge in making assumptions, predictions, forecasts,
conclusions or projections. We caution readers of this document 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, including labour challenges; the severity, duration and
spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and possibly other outbreaks of
disease or illness, and its impact on local, national or
international economies, as well as its heightening of certain
risks that may affect our future results; information, privacy and
cyber security, including the threat of data breaches, 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; benchmark interest rate
reforms; technological changes and technology resiliency; political
conditions, including changes relating to, or affecting, economic
or trade matters; climate change and other environmental and social
risk; the Canadian housing market and consumer leverage;
inflationary pressures; global supply-chain disruptions; changes in
monetary, fiscal, or economic policy; changes in laws, including
tax legislation and interpretation, or in supervisory expectations
or requirements, including capital, interest rate and liquidity
requirements and guidance, and the effect of such changes on
funding costs; weak, volatile or illiquid capital or credit
markets; the level of competition in the geographic and business
areas in which we operate; 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 proposed acquisitions or
dispositions, including obtaining regulatory approvals; critical
accounting estimates and the effects 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; global
capital markets activities; the possible effects on our business of
war or terrorist activities; natural disasters and disruptions to
public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications,
power or water supply; 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 refer to 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 non-financial, legal and
regulatory, strategic, environmental and social, and reputation
risk, in the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management section of BMO's 2021
Annual MD&A, 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. The forward-looking information contained in
this document is presented for the purpose of assisting
shareholders and analysts in understanding our financial position
as at and for the periods ended on the dates presented, as well as
our strategic priorities and objectives, and may not be appropriate
for other purposes.
Material economic assumptions underlying the forward-looking
statements contained in this document are set out in the Economic
Developments and Outlook section, as well as in the Allowance for
Credit Losses section of BMO's 2021 Annual MD&A. Assumptions
about the performance of the Canadian and U.S. economies, as well
as overall market conditions and their combined effect on our
business, are material factors we consider when determining our
strategic priorities, objectives and expectations for our business.
In determining our expectations for economic growth, we primarily
consider historical economic data, past relationships between
economic and financial variables, changes in government policies,
and the risks to the domestic and global economy.
For News Media Enquiries: Paul
Gammal, Toronto,
paul.gammal@bmo.com, (416) 867-3996;
For Investor Relations Enquiries:
Bill Anderson, Toronto, bill2.anderson@bmo.com, (416)
867-7834;
Internet: www.bmo.com; Twitter:
@BMOmedia