Torys LLP non-executive chairman Robert Prichard will become the next chairman of the board of BMO Financial Group.Prichard has been an independent director of BMO since 2000 and upon shareholder approval at BMO’s annual meeting in Halifax on March 20, 2012, the company intends to appoint him to the chairman’s position to replace the retiring David A. Galloway.
“I am grateful for the board’s confidence and look forward to working with the board and management to deliver superior performance by the bank that defines great customer experience,” said Prichard in a news release.
“Under Rob’s leadership, I have every confidence that good governance will remain a source of competitive advantage for BMO,” said Galloway.
No stranger to the boardrooms of large organizations, Prichard is the head of the Greater Toronto Area transport agency Metrolinx as well as a director of George Weston Ltd. and Onex Corp. Between 1990 and 2000, he was president of the University of Toronto, where he helped boost the university’s endowment to a then-Canadian record of $1.4 billion. He is also the former president and CEO of Torstar Corp.
Bruce McCuaig, president and CEO of Metrolinx, told the Toronto Star Prichard will stay on with the the agency that operates GO Transit for the Ontario government.
