$BMO

The OCC found that nine major banks used subjective reputation policies, impacting lawful businesses, including digital assets. The report, based on extensive data, supports crypto industry claims of debanking but does not prove a coordinated government campaign. Banks reviewed include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citibank.

The OCC reviewed nine U.S. banks, including TD and BMO, for practices potentially affecting customers based on political views, religion, or lawful businesses. The review, covering 2020-2025, examined complaints and documents but did not provide aggregate denial counts. Cases involved TD's scrutiny of pro-life and faith-based groups, BMO's monitoring of a firearm-related customer, and banking restrictions on digital-asset firms. The OCC found no violations warranting penalties.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T) led Q3 share buybacks with $2.3B, followed by Bank of Montreal (BMO-T) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T). Insider buying was absent in these top buybacks. Zodiac Gold (TXG-T) saw a 40.9% rally since July, with $117.4M in buybacks and insider buying. Other companies with buybacks and insider activity include Nutrien (NTR-T), Trican Well Service (TCW-T), and Rockpoint Gas Storage (RGSI-T).

A federal review found that JPMorgan Chase's payment subsidiary WePay screened merchants for political and religious terms like 'MAGA' and 'America First' before reviewing accounts. The OCC's report examined nine major banks and their policies from 2020 to 2025. The CFPB has launched an investigation into potential violations of federal consumer financial laws by these banks.

A U.S. Treasury report found major banks closed accounts of groups disfavored by the Biden administration, including conservative organizations, religious groups, and firearms dealers. The OCC investigated 100,000 complaints and 50,000 bank records, revealing debanking based on political, social, or religious beliefs. Banks reviewed included JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup. The report was prompted by a Trump executive order in 2025.

The OCC found that nine major U.S. banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, BMO Bank) had policies that disadvantaged customers based on political or religious views. The report, covering 2020-2025, cited lack of clear standards for assessing reputation risk, leading to cases like PNC denying credit to a media company with conservative owners and JPMorgan's WePay closing accounts for pro-Trump merchandise.

BMO Financial Group has launched Zogo, a financial education platform, in Canada. The partnership targets young adults aged 18-24, offering interactive lessons and quizzes on budgeting, saving, and money management. Zogo is a gamified platform that rewards users with points for completing financial lessons. BMO, with $1.5 trillion in assets, aims to enhance financial literacy among Canadian students. Zogo was founded in 2018 and won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2019.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) launched three new ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange: BMO MSCI Latin America GDP Weighted Index ETF, BMO Core Bond Fund, and BMO Emerging Markets Bond Fund. BMO offers a 3.05% dividend yield, a 54% payout ratio, and a 5.8% 3-year dividend growth rate. The stock is currently 30.5% overvalued relative to its GF Value™. BMO has a GF Score™ of 82/100, reflecting strong growth and profitability but weaker financial strength and valuation.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) stock fell 2.3% to C$230.72 due to a broad selloff in Canadian bank stocks, driven by renewed interest rate anxiety. Citadel Securities called for a Federal Reserve rate hike, adding to market unease. BMO's decline comes amid a fragile technical backdrop and broader market risk-off tone.

BMO raised several fixed mortgage rates, including 3-year (4.94%) and 5-year (5.14%) terms, following bond yield increases. Scotiabank also hiked its 2-year rate to 5.14%. All Big 6 Canadian banks have adjusted rates since September, with TD and RBC seeing the largest increases. The Government of Canada 5-year bond yield rose to 3.624%.