The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) announced that the Bank of Montreal (BMO) has paid an administrative monetary penalty of CAD 4 million for violations of the consumer provisions of the Bank Act related to monthly plan fees on certain personal deposit accounts. The breaches concerned erroneous charges for monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted, alongside disclosure failures. From 2010 to 2024, BMO failed to disclose all charges applicable to these accounts, and between 2022 and 2024 it failed to clearly disclose when monthly plan fees would begin. A total of 101,091 customers were financially impacted; BMO issued refunds and redressed interest totalling more than CAD 3 million and made a charitable donation of more than CAD 600,000 for amounts that could not be refunded to accounts. FCAC published the case as Summary of Proceeding #4 and indicated that federally regulated financial institutions are expected to review FCAC decisions and summaries of proceedings and apply relevant findings to their own practices.
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada 2026-02-02
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada levies CAD 4 million penalty on Bank of Montreal for deposit account fee disclosure failures
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada announced that the Bank of Montreal paid a CAD 4 million penalty for violating consumer provisions of the Bank Act related to monthly plan fees on personal deposit accounts, affecting 101,091 customers. BMO issued over CAD 3 million in refunds and interest redress, and made a charitable donation exceeding CAD 600,000 for unrefundable amounts.