
BMO Harris
Risk Level:
Summary:
BMO Harris is the American subsidiary of the Canadian organization Bank of Montreal (BMO). BMO will not provide financial services to specific industries and companies, notably those dealing with coal, guns/ammunition, or Arctic drilling. BMO funds "LGBTQ2+" organizations and causes, donates to ideological groups hostile to freedom of expression, and advances racially discriminatory lending practices. It restricts donations to certain faith-based charities. BMO does not have viewpoint protections for its employees. For these reasons, BMO Harris receives a "High Risk" rating.
Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.
BMO will not financially interact with firearms companies, coal companies, or organizations engaging in Arctic drilling (1)(2). The bank also says that “higher risk sectors and activities are subject to enhanced due diligence, escalations and exception processes,” referring to environmental and social risks (1). BMO received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (3). Among other requirements, this means the bank has pledged to vet vendors for LGBTQ policies.
Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.
Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.
BMO does not explicitly protect against viewpoint discrimination (1).
Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.
BMO incorporates “environmental and social risk management” into its financial decisions, including “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” “climate change,” “human rights,” “cultural heritage,” and more (1)(2). BMO is a proud supporter of LGBTQ2+ Pride Month (3). BMO also requires anti-racist trainings for all employees (4).
Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.
BMO allocated $5 billion for racial equity funding, some of which went to partisan groups like the National Urban League and the Obama Foundation (1). Much of those funds were strictly accessible to “Black and Latinx” people. BMO corporately sponsors a “Pride and Remembrance Run” for the LGBTQ community as well as other LGBTQ2+ events (2)(3).
All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 23, 2023
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