TORONTO — The Bank of Montreal has agreed to compensate clients a total of $49.9 million after collecting excess fees on certain mutual funds and investment products over eight years.
The bank (TSX:BMO) will also pay $2.1 million to the Ontario Securities Commission toward its mandate of protecting investors, while a further payment of $90,000 will go to cover the costs of the investigation.
The OSC approved the no-contest settlement with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., BMO Private Investment Counsel Inc., BMO Investments Inc. and BMO InvestorLine Inc. after the bank agreed to the deal without admitting or denying the conclusions of the OSC staff.
The provincial regulator alleged that inadequacies with the systems and controls at BMO resulted in some customers paying excess fees that were not detected or corrected in a timely manner.
BMO’s settlement follows a similar OSC settlement with CIBC (TSX:CM) in October in which some of the bank’s clients were compensated a total of $73.3 million after collecting excess fees over 14 years.
In July, Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) reached a no-contest settlement with the OSC for $19.9 million after collecting excess fees from some clients.