The Bank of Montreal has entered into a memorandum of understanding with China’s ICBC to expand its footprint in the Asian country. The arrangement will allow BMO and ICBC to cooperate on everything from asset management to corporate financing and trade in China and Canada. While the deal was signed in November 2017, it was made public only recently. Gilles Ouellette, group head of BMO Asset Management said. the Canadian bank is looking forward to leveraging the MoU to build on a number of opportunities, including its asset management capabilities and other areas. At present, it is discussing embedding BMO exchange traded funds in ICBC funds, he added. Currently, BMO is the only Canadian bank with a wholly-owned subsidiary in China. It has had a partnership with ICBC since 1997.
