[Non-English content]. Hello everyone. My name is Kevin Chief, originally from the Anishinaabe Métis community of Duck Bay, Manitoba, which is part of Treaty Four. I am a proud member of the BMO Indigenous Advisory Council, and I am honored to be able to start us off in a good way with a land acknowledgement. As we begin, I'd like to acknowledge that I'm speaking to you today from Treaty One lands, the original territories of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Lakota, Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. We honor and recognize the First Peoples of this territory and the ongoing contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit to the vibrancy of our communities today. BMO proudly acknowledges our role in the many relationships that make up our home and commit to a spirit of reconciliation for the future.
I'm often asked why a land acknowledgement is important. We at BMO believe when done with sincerity, it is the first sign of respect and recognition of the unique relationship we have with Indigenous people in Canada and throughout the world. What that means is even through difficult times, we will commit to that relationship, a relationship based on truth and reconciliation. In closing, as you can see, I'm wearing a medicine pouch. It has traditional medicines from the land, cedar, sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco. These medicines provide protection, strength, knowledge, and gratitude. These teachings were passed down from my kookum, my grandmother, Rosalie. In the spirit of these teachings, I wish you the best as part of this important gathering. [Non-English content]. Have a wonderful event, and thank you.
Thank you, Kevin. Thank you very much. Good morning, fellow shareholders, welcome to the 2021 Bank of Montreal Annual Meeting. Thank you for joining us online this morning. We appreciate your participation and interest. My name is George Cope. I have the honor of serving as your Chair of the Board of Directors, and I call this meeting to order. When I assumed my duties as chair at the conclusion of last year's annual meeting, who would have foreseen that we would be meeting virtually once again? As it turns out, last year's meeting was just the beginning. As we meet this year, we all sincerely hope that we have reached the beginning of the end. The effects of the pandemic have been hard for all of us, but especially for those shareholders, customers, and employees who suffered the loss of a loved one to COVID-19.
On behalf of the board of directors and the bank, I extend our sympathies to all of you. Even if you and yours were spared such a tragic impact, the financial impact of COVID-19 is still being felt by many, something to which we at BMO have been very sensitive to, and I am proud of the many steps management has taken over the past year to help customers and employees weather this pandemic. Naturally, we would prefer to be meeting with you in person to give the shareholders the opportunity to address the meeting in person. We cannot if we are to do our part to stop the spread of this virus. Therefore, we are meeting virtually again, which will affect somewhat the way the meeting is conducted and which I will outline shortly.
We will, of course, ensure that you, as shareholders and proxy holders, are able to exercise your rights to address the meeting and to vote on each of the resolutions before the meeting. Let me begin by warmly welcoming everyone who is joining us remotely, either on the webcast or on the telephone lines. I'm joined on the webcast this morning by Darryl White, our Chief Executive Officer, Sharon Haward-Laird, our General Counsel, Barbara Muir, our Corporate Secretary, and on the line from our office in Chicago is Tayfun Tuzun, our Chief Financial Officer. Sharon and Tayfun were appointed to their positions in January, and this is their first annual meeting. We welcome you both. The other members of the Bank's Board of Directors and members of the Bank Senior Management Team are joining us today remotely.
Members of the board will be introduced when it is time for their election. The secretary has confirmed that notice of this meeting was duly given in accordance with the Bank Act and that a quorum of shareholders as prescribed by the bylaws of the bank is present in person and represented by proxy. I therefore declare the meeting to be properly constituted for the transaction of business. I appoint Steve Gilbert and Claire Girard, representatives of Computershare Trust Company of Canada, who are joining the meeting remotely to act as our scrutineers for the meeting, and Barbara Muir, our Corporate Secretary, to act as secretary. The shareholder auditors for fiscal 2020, KPMG LLP, are also joining us virtually today, and we thank them for their service. Now, for some procedural matters concerning the meeting.
Closed caption is being provided over the webcast, and the meeting is being broadcast online in both official languages. Usually, and this year is no exception, the vast majority of shareholders submit their proxy or voting instructions in advance of the meeting, with only a small number of shareholders opting to vote their shares at the meeting. The main difference is how we will conduct today's meeting are first, in how voting will occur, and second, in how shareholders can ask their questions. Of course, under normal procedures, shareholders and proxy holders who wish to vote at the meeting would be required to attend the meeting in person. Since we can't have a meeting in person, voting during this meeting can only be done through our virtual voting platform on the webcast.
Only registered shareholders and proxy holders who have registered in advance with Computershare, as outlined in our management proxy circular, are eligible to vote during the meeting. If you had voted in advance of the meeting, your vote instructions have been recorded, and you do not need to do anything. Now, in order to vote at the meeting, registered shareholders, you should have logged into the webcast by entering the 15-digit control number on the proxy form as their username. Proxy holders, including beneficial owners who appoint themselves as proxy holders, should have logged into the webcast by entering the four-digit alpha code sent to them by Computershare as their usernames. Both registered shareholders and proxy holders should have entered "bmo2021," all lowercase, as their password. If you have logged on properly, when you tap the voting icon, the meeting resolutions will be displayed.
To vote, tap on one of the voting options. Voting will remain open during the formal voting portion of the meeting. If you have logged on as a guest, you will not be able to vote at the meeting unless you log back in using your 15-digit control number or your four-digit alpha number as applicable. Let's just hope next year we're all in person. Since we can't have the in-person participation today, shareholders will be able to ask questions either over the webcast or over the English or French language phone lines. Let me explain how the webcast works. If you've entered the meeting, your 15-digit control number or your four-digit alpha number, and you have a question, click on the Ask a Question tab at the top of the webcast page. Please read the instructions in the text box. Insert your question into the chat.
Our corporate secretary will read aloud your name and question. We will address questions that directly relate to a particular motion at the appropriate time of the meeting, and we will save general questions for the question and answer session following the formal business. You can also join this meeting by calling into our English or French language phone lines. The phone numbers are on your screen now and can be found on our website. Now, if you choose to do so, please note there will be delay between the sound that you will hear on the phone line and the sound that comes through the webcast. You can still watch the webcast, but you should turn the webcast sound off. Alternatively, you can just listen to the meeting over the phone line. When the time comes, the operator will instruct you on how to ask your questions.
To avoid feedback, we ask that you not use a speakerphone. Please use a handset or a headset. Remember, you cannot vote over the phone line. We will do our best to respond to all your questions during the meeting. Any questions not answered during the meeting will be answered following the meeting. We'd like to thank the thousands of registered and beneficial shareholders who have taken the time today to vote by proxy prior to the meeting. Let's turn to the agenda. The agenda today will consist of an address by our bank's leader, CEO Darryl White, followed by the submission of the bank's 2020 annual financial statements, three resolutions proposed by management. First, to elect the board of directors for next year. Second, to appoint the shareholder auditors for fiscal 2021. Third, to consider an advisory resolution on the bank's approach to executive compensation.
There were eight shareholder proposals submitted this year. One proposal we voted on, and seven were withdrawn. The proposal going to vote is from Harrington Investments, Inc. The withdrawn proposals were from Le MÉDAC. Harrington's proposal will be addressed following the votes on the three resolutions proposed by management, and MÉDAC's proposals will be addressed thereafter. Following that, we'll have time for questions and an answer period session. On behalf of those speaking today, I note that their comments may include forward-looking statements, and unless otherwise noted, they will be referring to non-GAAP financial measures referred to as adjusted results. Details regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures are on screen and can also be found in the Bank's 2021 annual report, as updated in our first quarter 2021 report to shareholders.
Actual results may differ materially from forecasts or projections or conclusions in the forward-looking statements made today. At this point, let's get on with the meeting. I'd like to introduce to you our CEO, who will describe the bank's performance in 2020 in what was clearly one of the most unique years in our 203-year history. He will discuss, of course, our plan for the future and the exciting implications of these plans for BMO Financial Group. From the perspective of your directors, we are very satisfied with the bank's performance in 2020 in face of the pandemic-induced economic downturn. Your bank is well-positioned for strong growth when the economy recovers. I, as chair, am very proud of the bank's commitment to achieve Zero Barriers to Inclusion and its Net-Zero Ambition, and the concrete steps the bank has taken to fulfill both of these commitments.
It takes a strong leadership team to achieve this, and of course, we have a tremendous leadership team with Darryl White at the helm. Darryl, thanks for all that you have done over the past year, and let me now turn it over to you to address our shareholders.
Well, thank you, Chairman. Good morning, everyone. [Non-English content ] When the bank's shareholders met a year ago, we were just coming to grips with the coronavirus pandemic. This was a challenge unlike any we'd faced before, a threat both to public health and to economic well-being. In the months that followed, as COVID-19 took its toll, we faced a lot of uncertainty. We also saw people's ability to set aside doubt and push forward as they adapted in extraordinary ways. To find examples at BMO of that resilient spirit in action, we didn't have to look far. On behalf of all shareholders, I want to thank our employees for the incredible strength and resolve you have shown throughout the pandemic.
All of you who have adjusted to working from home and the 16,000 who never stopped coming to the office or branch every day, supporting our customers, our communities with the core banking services that they rely on. You've found innovative ways around obstacles. You've made significant sacrifices, and in some cases, experienced tragic loss. Still, you pressed forward, supporting your loved ones, your colleagues, and BMO's customers. As you've inspired their confidence and trust, I know that they've inspired you because our bank gains strength from the people and the communities we are in business to serve. We can count on that shared strength to propel all of us forward. The pandemic also underlined the central role of banks at the heart of our communities and throughout society. The crisis created opportunities for BMO to support millions of customers in new ways.
We acted quickly, facilitating government relief to over 100,000 small businesses with a total value of over CAD 10 billion in Canada and the United States. We also deferred payments for more than 250,000 individuals and businesses. We've shown BMO customers they can count on us to help them through, and that work continues. The human cost of COVID-19 has been staggering. We'll be dealing with the impacts for some time to come. As we transition to recovery, there are more hopeful signs every day, and that's what I want to focus on this morning. The opportunities ahead as we help people, businesses, and communities not only recover but make real financial progress towards their long-term goals. I'll spend a couple of minutes on some key dimensions of this new path forward.
I'll look at BMO's continued strong performance and how being a stronger bank benefits our customers and the recovery. Lastly, I'll highlight key aspects of the strategy that we're putting into action. As a bank that's driven by purpose, ready for the future, and committed to growing the good for all of our stakeholders. This is how we deliver value to BMO's shareholders. The path forward from the pandemic, as we know, begins with getting vaccines distributed and administered. BMO stepped up early, helping promote a science-based understanding of how vaccination protects our families, protects our friends, and protects our neighbors. We're leading by example, providing paid time off to every bank employee who gets vaccinated when their turn comes.
It's heartening to know that just a few kilometers from where I'm speaking right now, a public vaccination site has been set up at the BMO Education & Conference Centre, part of a multi-year major gift to the University Health Network, among other Toronto hospitals. The ultimate goal is a return to normal life. Reuniting with family and friends, children back at school, reopening of small businesses, the freedom to travel again, or simply to go out for dinner. Recovery doesn't just mean restoring what was. We need to take all that we've learned, the countless ways we've adapted, the new solutions we've invented, and move forward from what used to be to something better. Here, technology plays a critical role. Our bank has been driving digital transformation for more than a decade.
In the past 12 months, the pace has accelerated as we've offered customers better ways to manage everything from electronic payments to borrowing, and with more to come. As the key areas of the economy reopen, we expect a release of pent-up demand, sparking real growth. In the U.S., we're forecasting GDP growth of 6.5% this year, the strongest advance since the mid-1980s, and we're projecting the same rate for Canada. However, we also know that the recovery will be uneven. Some businesses and individuals will recover quickly, while others face a steeper climb, and the most vulnerable will need targeted attention. That's why we're tailoring BMO's products and services to help every customer regain momentum and resume progress because our bank is only as strong as the customers and the communities we serve. Progress is not just measured in economic terms.
Last spring, we saw a dramatic awakening, initially in the U.S., and then worldwide as people came together to demand racial justice and greater social equity. It was long overdue. That awareness keeps on growing as we continue to better understand the impact of racism and intolerance in so many communities. This awakening has also inspired the next step in BMO's own equity journey, a landmark initiative we call Zero Barriers to Inclusion, which sets out concrete actions to address racial inequity and create more social inclusive economy. We've once again strengthened our diversity targets for our own workforce, and we're advancing community-focused programs like BMO EMpower in Chicago, pledging to invest CAD 5 billion over five years in racialized businesses and families. Removing the barriers that have held so many people back is part of BMO's broader commitment to ensuring an inclusive and sustainable recovery.
Our bank has long believed in sharing the gains of social and economic wellbeing, and that belief has only intensified during the pandemic. This is the heart of BMO's purpose: to boldly grow the good in business and in life. To continue delivering on our purpose, we need to maintain consistent, strong performance, my second theme this morning. We entered 2020 with strong momentum. We adapted quickly to the changing environment and continued making progress throughout the year, and we've come out of it even stronger. That strength enabled us to support our customers and communities as they navigated the disruption and the uncertainty of the pandemic. For those who still need help, we're well-positioned to provide it, as you've seen from our adjusted year-end results. Pre-provision, pre-tax earnings increased by 7% in each of the last three years.
Earnings per share in 2020 declined to CAD 7.71, reflecting an appropriate increase in provisions for future loan losses given the uncertainty of the environment. We've also made further progress against our efficiency commitments, achieving net operating leverage of 2.7%, which was above target. While our performance has been strong in absolute terms, it's been even stronger on a relative basis. We're delivering on our commitment to strengthen BMO's competitive position, and we've been proving that a strong, inclusive company can act more decisively to meet market expectations around higher business value. This was underlined as well in the first quarter of the current year, where pre-provision, pre-tax earnings grew by 16% compared to the same quarter last year, and return on equity was 15.8%. The bank's overall efficiency ratio was 56.3%, and operating leverage was above 7%. Capital strength remains a cornerstone of BMO's resilience.
Our Common Equity Tier 1 ratio is currently 12.4%, up 100 basis points from a year ago. We're building capabilities and allocating resources to areas that will deliver strong results today and into the future. You've seen that reflected in a range of recent decisions, such as the sale of our private banking business in Hong Kong and Singapore and our decision to wind down our non-Canadian investment in corporate banking in the oil and gas sector. We focus capital investment in areas where we have strong market positions, strong returns, and the advantage of scale. All of BMO's diverse businesses have been performing well. Together, their combined performance underscores the value of deliberate action and strategic investments over the past decade. In commercial banking, we rank among North America's top 10 lenders.
We're delivering innovative products and services in our Canadian retail customers that help them make real financial progress. For example, our new BMO eclipse Visa credit cards offer rewards geared to customers' lifestyles. In the U.S., we've significantly extended our retail footprint beyond the Midwest, establishing a national banking platform and accepting digital deposits in all 50 states. We are a leader in Canadian ETFs with the largest flows in the market for the last decade. When it comes to investment advice, BMO's platform serves our customers across a wide spectrum of needs, from our award-winning full-service investing and financial planning services straight through to our growing digital advice solutions. We're also materially expanding our capacity in capital markets with our expertise in areas like fixed income and electronic trading in the U.S. and in Canada. The list goes on. These strengths have earned BMO global recognition.
We're among the leaders in our industry for innovation, for customer experience, for advancing equity and sustainability. We've just been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute for the fourth year in a row as one of the world's most ethical companies. These top rankings and awards confirm the effectiveness of our strategy. For BMO, what's most gratifying is that we continue to earn and retain customer loyalty, where we're seeing higher scores than at any point in our history. Knowing that people value what we do and recommend us to others, that's why we come to work every day. It's what sustains and accelerates our strength, which helps drive the overall recovery. A strong bank builds a strong economy. A strong bank also knows exactly where it wants to go and how to get there, which is the final point I'll highlight this morning.
BMO has a clear, consistent strategy, concrete business imperatives, and a purpose-driven plan to succeed, which for us means winning together with our customers, our communities, our employees, and our shareholders. We've mapped out a bold ambition for the future, we've identified the specific actions we'll take to achieve our priorities. It's a comprehensive plan with many dimensions designed to build world-class loyalty and long-term growth. I'll highlight just a few. First, a foundational point. BMO's operating model, how we create value, is digital. This is where the transformation of the past decade has been leading, you see it in our strategic priorities. Digital first for speed, efficiency, and scale.
When we say digital first, it's really about what happens next, how we deploy technology to do things that we couldn't do before, like using AI in BMO Insights and CashTrack to help customers manage their cash flow better or enabling small businesses to get financing more conveniently with BMO Business Xpress, which saves tens of thousands of hours annually so our teams can focus on providing higher-value services and advice. This is the power of a digital operating model. It isn't about automating everything. It's about scaling up to serve more customers in more personalized ways and creating business value in the process. We've proven our ability to deliver innovative, customer-centric digital services. That's why BMO is just one of a handful of banks chosen to offer checking accounts through Google Pay. The mobile-first Plex accounts will be rolling out later this year.
Digital insights are also crucial to BMO's industry-leading risk management capability, which is truly differentiating. Our success in managing loss provisions throughout the pandemic is built on a decades-long record of excellence in addressing all aspects of risk while supporting our customers. And we continue to improve here, too, using AI-based systems to consider more and richer data and to model more lending scenarios than was ever possible before. The result is not just faster decisions, but better ones based on more sophisticated and reliable analytics. Lastly, I want to highlight one major area of risk that has become a defining element of our strategic roadmap, the urgent need to address climate change. In more and more company boardrooms, climate action is no longer seen as a sustainability pledge. It's a business imperative. BMO has been engaged in this conversation for a long time.
We're a globally recognized leader in sustainable finance, and we were one of the first North American banks to endorse the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking. Our 2020 sustainability report includes an industry-leading climate report aligned with the recommendations of the TCFD, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, developed by the Financial Stability Board. Our climate report includes detailed information on various aspects of climate exposure, including transition risks, as well as in-depth carbon emissions data. We've recently joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials and are adopting its rigorous disclosure practices. Now we've taken the next major step, announcing BMO's Net-Zero Ambition. We've committed to being our clients' lead partner in the transition to a net-zero world, a world in which greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to the 2050 targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
Our Net-Zero commitment includes setting measurable performance targets with our customers, growing our range of lending and investment products, and expanding our advisory services to help customers advance their climate adaptation strategies. Together, we'll focus on emissions reductions where it counts, not just on paper through divestment or buying offsets, but in the real economy. Supporting all of these efforts will be the recently announced BMO Climate Institute, our new hub of thought leadership and innovation on climate transition. We'll be sharing more in the weeks ahead, but the top-line message to our clients is this: Our bank is with you in the race to Net Zero. We're ready to meet you where you are on that journey, as a trusted advisor and advocate, creating long-term value together. We ground our support in a very practical point of view.
If you want to make a difference, you need to be invested. You need to be at the table to make your voice heard and influence change. The challenges of the past year are not entirely behind us, as I've underlined this morning, the post-COVID story will not be a return to the past because the world has changed forever, bringing new paradigms, new ways of thinking, and new opportunities. As we chart the best path forward, BMO has a clear plan, strong momentum, and a bold ambition for the future. Our superior risk management sets us apart, as does our deployment of capital. We have the right people with the right advice, supported by the right digital tools and capabilities to help our customers make real financial progress. Our results prove the value of all the actions we're taking to achieve our strategic priorities.
As I say to our employees, we're building a digitally enabled future-ready bank with leading efficiency, customer loyalty, profitability, and return on equity, all powered by a winning culture and driven by our purpose. The fact is, strong businesses drive social and economic change. We see every day that what's good for our bank is good for our customers, our employees, and our communities. Inspired by their resilience, BMO is stronger and more competitive than ever. Thank you. [Non-English content]
Thank you, Darryl. Wow. What a strategy path forward, clear, hopefully for everyone as shareholders to see the commitment that Darryl has and the team to serving our community, not just from a return on capital perspective, giving back to the community and recognizing the changing world we have in front of us. Your bank's serious about it. The board supports Darryl's strategy, and as you can see, we have an excellent leader leading us through this most challenging time, yet opportunity for an exciting future. Let me now turn to some additional procedural matters. Won't be quite as exciting as Darryl's speech.
I've been informed by our transfer agent that over 315,345,690 votes have been cast or received by proxy for both registered and beneficial shareholders in respect of the matters of business to come before the meeting today, representing approximately 48.7% of the total outstanding shares eligible to be voted. We will conduct all the votes in sequence, and later, when the votes are tallied, the scrutineer will report the outcome of each of the votes at the meeting. For shareholders and proxy holders who have accessed our online voting platforms, the polls are now open for voting and will close after our presentation of items of business. If you have already voted or sent in a proxy, there is no need for you to do anything unless you would like to change your vote.
When proxies are submitted to our registrar and transfer agent, they are counted and tabulated by their officers. Scrutineers of the meeting will verify and report on the results. If you are a shareholder or proxy holder on the phone, you can register your question with the operator by pressing the number one at the appropriate time. It should be star one. You will be instructed when to do so. If you're on the webcast, you can type your question into the chat. For our first item of business, the submission of the financial statements. In March 2021, copies of our annual report for 2020 were mailed to shareholders.
The consolidated financial statements and notes for the October 31st, 2020 year-end were included on pages 145- 211 of the annual report, and the auditor's report therein can be found on page 139 and will be taken as read. Operator, please ask whether there are any questions on the phone related to the financial statements.
Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone lines. Before making your star one selection, please take your phone off speaker mode. To cancel your question, you may press star two. If you do have a question related to the presented item, please press star one on your telephone keypad.
We're waiting to see if there are any questions on the phone. Barbara, did we receive any questions in advance on the financial statements?
We did not, Chair.
Okay. Thank you very much. Were there any questions submitted online?
There are no questions online on this item of business right now.
Okay. Thank you. Operator, do I have any questions on the phone?
We have no questions over the phone at this time.
Great. Thank you. Thanks very much. Okay. This now brings us to the election of directors for the ensuing year. As determined by the board, the number of directors to be elected today is 13, with 11 having been elected previously, and Stephen Dent and Madhu Ranganathan nominated for election by the shareholders as directors for the first time. Before introducing you to Steve and Madhu, I would like to thank Ronald Farmer for his many years of dedicated service to the bank. Ron not only chaired the bank's human resource committee, but he also served as a member of each of the bank's other board committees. We are very grateful to Ron for his strategic business advice and oversight he provided to the bank over the years. We will all miss working with Ron. You will find biographical information about each of the nominated directors in the management proxy circular.
Let me take a moment to introduce you to both Steve and Madhu. Steve is the Managing Director and Co-founder of the highly successful Birch Hill Equity Partners, a Toronto-based private equity firm. Steve has over 30 years of experience in private equity, expertise in capital allocation, strategic planning, M&A, accounting, and finance, and will be an excellent addition. Madhu is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Canada's leading technology company, OpenText. She brings more than 30 years of financial leadership experience with innovative Silicon Valley technology-driven background. She's an expert and has deep operational focus on software, hardware, and technology-enabled services businesses and will also lead the bank to be more competitive into the future. We welcome both of you, and we are so pleased you're joining the BMO team. I call on Barbara Muir, our Corporate Secretary, now to present the nominees for election.
Thank you, Chair. I now nominate the following persons to be elected as directors of the bank until the next succeeding annual meeting of shareholders, or until their successors are elected or appointed. Janice Babiak, Sophie Brochu, Craig Broderick, George Cope, Stephen Dent, Christine Edwards, Martin Eichenbaum, David Harquail, Linda Huber, Eric La Flèche, Lorraine Mitchelmore, Madhu Ranganathan, and Darryl White.
Great. Thank you, Barbara. I'll now call on Neil Puddicombe to second the nomination. Neil?
Thank you, Chair. My name is Neil Puddicombe, and I'm a shareholder. I second the motion.
Thank you, Neil. Operator, would you please ask whether or not there are any questions on the phone related to the election of directors?
Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone line. Before making your star one selection, please take your phone off speaker mode. To cancel your question, you may press star two. If you do have a question related to the presented item, please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Well, while we're waiting to see if there are any questions on the phone, Barbara, did you receive any question in advance on the election of directors?
We did not, Chair.
Thank you. Any questions online?
There are no questions online on this item of business.
Okay, we have no questions online either. How about on the telephone?
We have no questions over the phone at this time.
Okay, thank you. We will now proceed to vote. The Bank provides for additional voting for directors. The Bank Act provides that you may vote for or withhold your vote for the election of each of the director nominees. I remind you that the board of directors and management recommend voting for all the nominees set out in the management proxy. We will pause for a few seconds to allow for everyone to vote who has not. Okay, moving forward. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors for the coming year. In order to facilitate motions at the meeting, we have with us today Sobia Qureshi and Edgar Villa, who has served on the Bank's front lines, both of them over the last year.
We could not be more grateful to all the frontline workers who have sacrificed so much and demonstrated such strength and courage to provide essential services to our communities, in particular, to our frontline employees who provided banking services to our customers around the world over this difficult year. I know you, as shareholders, our board of directors, and all of management, want to thank our 44,000 colleagues at BMO for what they've done to keep us all moving forward over the past year. Let me now call on Sobia to make the motion.
My name is Sobia Qureshi. I am the senior branch manager at Bay and Bloor branch in Toronto location. I am a proxy holder, I move the motion to appointment of KPMG as the shareholders auditor for the 2021 fiscal year.
Thank you, Sobia. Neil, over to you again to second the motion, please.
Thank you, Chair. I second the motion.
Great. Operator, would you please ask if there's any questions on the phone related to KPMG as the auditors?
Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone line. Before making your star one selection, please take your phone off speaker mode. To cancel your question, you may press star two. If you do have a question related to the presented item, please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Well, while we're waiting to see again, was there any questions on the phone, Barbara? Did we receive any questions in advance on KPMG as our auditors?
No, we did not, Chair.
Great. Thank you. Any questions online?
There are no questions online related to this item of business, Chair.
Okay. Thank you. Operator, anything on the phone?
We have no questions registered on the phone at this time.
Great. Thank you. I remind you that the Board of Directors and Management recommend voting for the appointment of shareholder auditors. We'll now pause for a few seconds to allow for that voting. Okay. Moving forward. The third item on the agenda is a consideration of an advisory vote on the Bank's approach to executive compensation. I'll now call on Edgar Villa to present that motion. Edgar?
Hello. My name is Edgar Villa. I am the branch manager at our headquarters in Chicago at 111 West Monroe. I'm a proxy holder. I move the motion to approve, on an advisory basis, management's approach to executive compensation as disclosed in the management proxy circular delivered in advance of this meeting.
Thank you, Edgar. Neil, could I have you second that for us, please?
Thank you, Chair. I second the motion.
Great. Thank you very much, Neil. Operator, would you ask again if we have any questions related to the advisory resolution on the Bank's approach to executive compensation?
Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone line. Before making your star one selection, please take your phone off speaker mode. To cancel your question, you may press star two. If you do have a question related to the presented item, please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Well, while we're waiting to see if there are any questions on the phone, Barbara, once again, did we receive anything in advance on the advisory resolution of the bank's approach to executive compensation?
No, we did not receive any, Chair.
Okay. Thank you, Barbara. Do we have any questions online?
Not with respect to this item of business.
Okay, no questions. Do we have anyone on the phone, operator?
We have no questions registered at this time.
Okay, great. Thank you very much. I again will remind you that the Board of Directors and management recommend voting for the advisory resolution on Bank's approach to executive compensation. We'll now proceed to the vote. Okay, let's move forward, folks. We'll now turn to shareholder proposal number one, relating to the request that management produce a report outlining a carbon neutral plan. This shareholder proposal to be voted on today was submitted by Harrington Investments, Inc. Harrington's proposal and their supporting comments, as well as the Bank's position on the proposal, are set out in full pages on pages 88 and 89 of the English management proxy circular, and 92 and 93 of the French version. Mr. John Harrington has advised us that he would join us this morning to make a statement and move the motion. Operator, would you please put Mr. Harrington through?
Certainly. Mr. Harrington, you may press star one at this time to register for your proposal. Mr. Harrington, you may proceed. Your line is open.
Test me.
Thank you. Good morning.
Good morning. According to banking I'm sorry?
Is this Mr. Harrington?
Yes, it is.
Great. You're at the BMO meeting. It's George Cope, the Chair. You have the floor, sir. Welcome to your comments, and also, I believe you wanted to make a motion this morning.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. According to Banking on Climate Chaos Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2021, in the five years since the Paris Agreement, the world's 60 biggest banks have financed fossil fuel to the tune of CAD 3.8 trillion. Runaway funding for fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure fuels climate chaos and threatens the lives and livelihood of millions. My family almost lost our lives and lost everything we held dear in the Northern California wildfires of 2017. Direct result of climate change, of which our bank is complicit because of its continued fossil fuel financing. Even in pandemic of 2020, our bank joined 25 others to finance CAD 4.7 billion loan with TC Energy to build Coastal GasLink, fraught with controversy, including human Indigenous peoples' rights and environmental risk compounded by a COVID spread at the site of worker comps deemed essential.
I also understand that financing failed to receive free, prior, and informed consent. As our CEO said, BMO has global recognition. According to Banking on Climate Chaos report in bank financing for over 2,300 companies active across the fossil fuel life cycle, BMO has contributed over CAD 97 billion from 2016 through 2020. Our bank was number 16. For 100 key oil, gas, and coal companies expanding fossil fuels, BMO financed over CAD 43 billion from 2016 to 2020. BMO financed CAD 8.56 billion from 2016 to 2020 to the 30 top fracking companies and 10 key frack oil and gas pipeline companies. In fact, funding has increased since 2016. BMO financed a total of CAD 781 million for the top 30 coal mining companies from 2016- 2020. This funding has also grown since 2016. What has BMO done on the positive side?
Joined 95 banks to work together to disclose its greenhouse gas emissions, but is still financing carbon. Signed a voluntary code, United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking, but the bank is still financing carbon. We applaud BMO for mobilizing CAD 400 billion in sustainable finance by 2025, but BMO is still financing carbon. We applaud BMO for targeting net zero financial emissions in our lending by 2050, but we may not have another 29 years. We may only have 10-12 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We will have to cut emissions by 45% from 2010 levels. Nothing that our bank has done is a legal commitment pursuant to the rule of law. No BMO governance documents have been amended to mandate an end, phase out, or even reduction of fossil fuel financing.
We believe that ending fossil fuel financing is a fiduciary duty of the board of directors for shareholders, for stakeholders, for all of us. We urge shareholders to vote in favor of shareholder proposal number one.[Non-English content].
Mr. Harrington, thank you very much for your comments. As you heard our CEO, BMO has a very, very serious commitment and recognition of the climate change challenges going forward. The bank is committing to being a part of that evolution. If I could, Mr. Harrington, I think I need you also to formally make the motion. You could just make your motion, that would be helpful.
I move that shareholder proposal number one be approved. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much for your statement and your comments and your overall concern. Operator, are there any other questions on the phone line?
Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone line. Before making your star one selection, please take your phone off speaker mode. To cancel your question, you may press star two. If you do have a question related to the presented item, please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Barbara, while we're waiting to see if there's someone else on the line, do we have any questions that came in in advance of shareholder resolution number one?
No, there were none, Chair.
Okay. Have we received anything online?
There is one comment from Le MÉDAC, inviting shareholders to support the proposal of Harrington. I would just add, Chair, that MÉDAC also indicated that they wish to invite shareholders to vote against the approach to executive compensation.
Okay, thank you. That has been shared with everyone, those comments then, everyone is aware. Thank you for your comments. Are there any other questions on the phone, operator?
We have no questions over the phone at this time.
Okay, thank you very much. We'll now move to the vote on this matter. This is shareholder proposal number 1, requesting that management produce a report outlining a carbon neutral plan. I remind you that the board of directors and management recommend against this proposal for reasons clearly outlined in the management proxy circular. We will now proceed to a vote. Thank you. That brings us to the end of the voting on items of business for this meeting. Please complete all of your voting. I hereby declare that the polls are now closed with respect to all items of business. The scrutineers will now count the vote and report back shortly. There were seven shareholder proposals submitted by Le MÉDAC, but withdrawn this year.
At the request of Le MÉDAC, management has included the withdrawn proposals and the bank's response in the management proxy circular, which you will find starting on page 90 of the English proxy and 94 of the French proxy circular. I understand that Mr. Willie Gagnon from Le MÉDAC is standing by on the line and would like to make a statement regarding these proposals. Operator, could you please connect Mr. Gagnon?
Certainly. Thank you. Mr. Gagnon, please press star one at this time to register for your proposal.
Can you hear me?
Yes, I can. [Non-English content] Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman. My name is Willie Gagnon, and I act on behalf of the Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires, or MEDAC. As is the case each year, I'm happy to see you again and to see you on screen. Everything is working well. I will be as brief as possible. MEDAC is celebrating 25 years in existence this year, and we have sent the same seven proposals to Canada's seven largest banks. The seven proposals you have received. These are not BMO-specific proposals. Those were proposals designed to try and influence the corporate culture of all Canadian banks and subsequently of Canada's public companies. In my comments, I will limit myself to explaining why we have agreed not to have those proposals put to a vote. This reflects the fact that we had excellent discussions with the bank.
We salute, in fact, the Bank's sustained efforts, not just to answer our questions, but also to change the behaviors that we sought to be changed. In order, we sent a proposal on purpose, and you agreed to include purpose not only in the mandate of the board, but also in the mandate of the governance committee. We are very happy with that. Almost all the banks have done so, save two at this point. Your process will certainly be an inspiration to other companies. We sent a proposal on holding virtual meetings, and we agreed that that not be put to a vote, given that it is now possible for shareholders to speak in meetings. That something that we are very happy with.
We have also agreed not to have that proposal put to a vote based on your commitment to organize virtual meetings so that they resemble as much as possible what is possible to do in a face-to-face meeting. We sent a proposal on the Human Resources Committee, requesting that the mandate of the committee include responsibility for health and wellbeing of employees. You have done so. We are very happy with that. We made a proposal on equitable sharing of the recovery burden in the context of today's pandemic crisis and response, and we are very happy with the information that you have provided. I would refer shareholders to your detailed response to our proposal, including page numbers of the various sections where this information is provided, and we hope that the same level of disclosure will apply next year.
We sent a proposal dealing with global warming, and we're very happy not only that you have adhered to the TCFD, but the state of discussions we've had with you on your commitments to develop quantitative indicators on the weight of your involvement through your investment and loan portfolios related to climate change makes us very happy. Again, your detailed response, including page numbers in the circular, is very satisfactory. We had sent a proposal on the circular economy. The discussion on that issue, which is related to climate change, is much less advanced in society than discussion on greenhouse gases. Nonetheless, you are one of the only two banks in Canada that has adhered to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking. That is a United Nations initiative related to the circular economy, which commits you to developing indicators on those issues. You are at the forefront of this debate.
We are very happy about that. Finally, we had sent a proposal on the discretion of the board of directors and the compensation committee in respect of setting compensation. We sent that proposal to all banks. Given what happened during the context of the pandemic, that discretionary power has been invoked a number of times. We read in your response that the Human Resources Committee is enabled to use its discretionary power to reduce or enhance remuneration. We are happy that you have disclosed that information in respect of exercising the discretionary power. We believe that the exercise of this discretionary power should be disclosed by all public companies, and we believe that the disclosure you have made should be in all circulars.
We have agreed that none of those proposals be put to a vote. This reflects the quality of our discussions with you and the efforts that you have undertaken to talk to us. Once again, we are very happy with all that this year. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much for the comments. Thank you for working with us over the years, and thank you for being a shareholder. We share a common vision of making Bank of Montreal better, and that's why your shareholder and we at management and board work so cooperatively. Thank you very much. We appreciate your input. Okay. Let's turn to voting results. The scrutineers have completed their preliminary report on the results of the voting, and I now call on Steve Gilbert to read those results. The scrutineers' report in final form will be available after the meeting.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
Claire Girard and I, the scrutineers, hereby confirm the following preliminary results on the votes. On the election of directors, no director standing for election today received less than 98% of the votes cast for the election. On the appointment of the shareholders' auditors, approximately 95% of the votes were for, approximately 4% of the votes were withheld. On the advisory resolution on the bank's approach to executive compensation, approximately 95% of the votes were for, approximately 4% were against. On shareholder proposal number one, approximately 18% of the votes were for, approximately 81% were against, less than 1% of the votes were abstained. This concludes the report on the voting, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Thank you very much. The formal business of the meeting is now terminated, and we will move on to question and answer period. If you have a question that is more general in nature, please register your question with the operator if you're on the phone line, or if you're on the webcast, please submit your question into the chat. We will also read those questions received by the Corporate Secretary prior to the meeting that have not already been raised. Questions with common themes may be grouped together just for efficiency. If your question's not answered during the question and answer period, we will respond to your question following the meeting. Operator, do we have any questions on the phone? Darryl, maybe I'll have you join us as well at the same time while we're getting the operator set that up.
Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone line. Before making your star one selection, please take your phone off speaker mode. To cancel your question, you may press star two.
Again, while we wait for that to take place, Barbara, do we have any questions online that have been submitted?
We do have one question online from Jeff Carlson. The question is as follows: "I understand that restrictions on increasing shareholder dividends that had been placed by federal regulators have now been lifted. Even if this is not the case, what is BMO's plan to once again resume regularly raising shareholder dividends and get back on track?
Well, let's turn that over to our CEO.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Carlson, for your question. I will say, I think on behalf of the board, that I'm glad you care a lot about our dividends because we do too. After all, we've been paying them uninterrupted for 192 years. To your good question, I would say in the first instance, having a strong capital position and strong earnings momentum puts us in a position to consider alternatives with respect to your question. Our macroprudential regulator in Canada, OSFI, has not in fact yet lifted the restrictions on increasing dividends. I will say that we have had discussions about it when and if they do, and I expect that they will. You should look for us to get back into a position where we will increase our dividends to somewhere in the range of our payout ratio.
Recall that we have a stated payout ratio objective of 40%-50%. If you use that as a guide, I think you're likely to see us increase our dividends when permitted, to get back up closer to that range over a short period of time.
Thank you, Darryl. Other questions? Operator, do we have any questions on the phone?
We have no questions registered at this time.
Okay. online, Barbara?
There are no other questions online, Chair, at this time.
Okay, great. Well, thank you for everyone's engagement this morning, taking the time to go through a process that we all prefer would be in person. All of us, of course, hope that is what we are doing next year. Please stay healthy. Make sure you get your vaccine if you have not. Let's look forward to being together again next year. Thank you all for your support. Your company is in excellent hands with our CEO and the management team. We are ready to serve the country, serve North America, the banking industry, and responsibility of your important capital. With that, everyone have a wonderful day. Thank you.