Case study: How BMO creates economic value for its stakeholders
BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America, providing a broad range of products and services through three operating groups. Delivering sustainable value for its shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders, is a top priority for BMO. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2021 Sustainability Report by BMO, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
An aligned culture, sound corporate governance practices, ethical business behaviour and data security all contribute to a strong foundation, and help BMO create long-term value for all its stakeholders. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders BMO took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for the state
- create economic value for shareholders
- create economic value for suppliers
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) BMO has identified;
- How BMO proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by BMO to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report BMO identified a range of material issues, such as sustainable finance, climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion, data security, customer experience. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for BMO.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups BMO engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics BMO engages with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Customers
| · Newsletters and email · Events and conferences · Research surveys and co-creation/usability testing · Media, social media and podcasts |
| Employees
| · Email, quarterly calls, internal blogs and videos · Town halls, team meetings, listening sessions and employee resource groups · Events and conferences · Learning programmes · Surveys |
| Communities
| · Indigenous Advisory Council and Black and Latino Advisory Council meetings · Community partnerships and donations, volunteering, sponsorships |
| Shareholders and investors | · Email, conference calls and video conference calls
|
| Government, NGOs and industry | · Virtual panel events · Industry events |
| Suppliers | · Meetings and virtual conferences |
What actions were taken by BMO to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report BMO reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, BMO paid $8,322 million in employee salaries, benefits and other compensation.
- Creating economic value for the state
- In 2021, BMO paid $3,324 million in taxes and levies.
- Creating economic value for shareholders
- In 2021, BMO paid $4.24 in dividends per share.
- Creating economic value for suppliers
- In 2021, BMO paid $5,257 million in goods and services purchased.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by BMO, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
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