- Sustainability Linked Deposits (SLD) reward business account
holders who achieve predetermined sustainability targets
- SLDs join a suite of options offered by BMO to help business
clients make progress on their sustainability goals
TORONTO, July 18,
2023 /CNW/ - BMO (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) today
announced it is providing its innovative new Sustainability-Linked
Deposit (SLD) product to Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
(NYSE: ZWS), a client and leading engineered water solutions
company. A Sustainability-Linked Deposit links the interest paid on
a deposit account to a client's achievement of defined
sustainability targets. SLDs are a unique addition to BMO's
suite of liquidity management offerings and the options BMO
provides to support clients on their sustainability
journey, including Sustainability-Linked Loans (SLL),
Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLB), and Sustainability-Linked
Derivatives.
"BMO's Sustainability-Linked Deposit offering supports BMO's
Climate Ambition to be our clients' lead partner in the transition
to a net-zero world, and the progress we're making for a
thriving economy, a sustainable future, and an inclusive society,"
said Jonathan Hackett, Head, Sustainable Finance, BMO Capital
Markets. "SLDs represent an innovative way we can continue to
leverage our leadership and expertise in sustainable finance to
help clients achieve real results."
"Zurn Elkay's Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG) progress – and our focus – are guided
by our commitment to simply Do the Right Thing," said Todd A. Adams, Chairman and CEO of Zurn Elkay
Water Solutions. "We are not only firmly on track to meet our
initial set of ESG targets, but we have also built on that strong
foundation by adding new time-bound goals and targets in 2023 to
provide even greater transparency and accountability. These newly
established goals will further improve our supplier diversity, air
emissions, waste reduction, plastic bottle elimination, engineering
and research and development (R&D) spending and Total
Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)."
BMO is a leading North American bank in structuring
Sustainability-Linked Loans and ESG Bonds, working closely with a
wide range of clients to integrate sustainability into their
financing activities and, now, liquidity management. BMO has worked
with Zurn Elkay to assess and select
a material, credible and ambitious sustainability target: reducing
the company's Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas intensity in line with
its longer-term goal of a 50 per cent reduction by 2030 against
2021 levels. Zurn Elkay aims to
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions further through energy
efficiency measures as well as renewable energy generation and
procurement. Further information on Zurn
Elkay's energy reduction and decarbonization initiatives is
available in the company's 2022 Sustainability Report. Zurn Elkay has also recently completed its first
inventory of Scope 3 emissions – spanning its value chain
activities – with the objective of obtaining Science-based Targets
initiative (SBTi) validation in the near future.
"We're excited to be one of the first to offer this innovative
new feature to our business clients across North America," said Derek Vernon, Head, North American Treasury and
Payment Solutions Product Management and Payments Modernization,
BMO. "Our clients are looking for ways to be more sustainable while
optimizing their working capital, and SLDs offer a simple incentive
that both benefits businesses and contributes to the health of the
planet."
Zurn
Elkay and Sustainability
Zurn Elkay embeds ESG
considerations into its annual strategic planning process and ties
its sustainability goals directly to its success. Its ESG strategy
is organized within five key pillars: Environmental, Health and
Safety, People, Communities, Governance and Ethics. Named one of
America's Most Responsible Companies for three consecutive years by
Newsweek, Zurn Elkay also
develops solutions that help manage the most-important natural
resource – water. In addition, Zurn
Elkay's environmental handprint reduces its customers'
environmental footprint. The company designs products that conserve
and protect water, reduce energy consumption, mitigate the impact
of climate change, eliminate the need for single-use plastic
bottles, and its touchless and hygienic solutions help to fight the
spread of viruses, bacteria, and other germs.
BMO and Sustainability
As part of its Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in business
and life, BMO is driving progress toward a more sustainable
future. Carbon neutral in its own operations since
2010, BMO announced its Climate Ambition, to be its clients' lead
partner in the transition to a net-zero world, in March 2021
alongside the launch of the BMO Climate Institute. The bank's
climate ambition builds on a previous commitment to
mobilize $300 billion (CAD) in sustainable lending and
underwriting to companies pursuing sustainable outcomes by 2025. In
2021 BMO established a dedicated Energy Transition Group, to
support clients' pursuit of opportunities driven by the increasing
momentum of the global economy's shift in production and
consumption of energy.
BMO's sustainability leadership continues to be recognized on
global rankings, including number one bank on the World
Benchmarking Alliance's 2022 Financial System Benchmark released at
COP 27, the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index, Ethisphere Institute's list of the World's Most Ethical
Companies, and the most sustainable bank in North America for the fourth year in a row on
Corporate Knights' 2023 Ranking of the World's 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations.
BMO is a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Banking,
the Operating Principles for Impact Investment, and the Partnership
for Carbon Accounting Financials. BMO has been recognized for world
class sustainability disclosure in line with the Taskforce on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the Sustainability
Accounting Standards Board. In 2021 BMO was named Chair of the
Cross-Sector Biodiversity Initiative to develop and share good
practices related to biodiversity and ecosystem services in the
extractive industries.
For information on BMO's Purpose and commitments to a
sustainable future, visit its Sustainability Report, Purpose,
Climate and Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 pages.
About BMO Financial
Group
BMO Financial Group is the eighth largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of
$1.25 trillion as of April 30, 2023. Serving customers for 200 years
and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees
providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth
management, global markets and investment banking products and
services to over 13 million customers across Canada, the United
States, and in select markets globally. Driven by a single
purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO
is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making
progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future and inclusive
society.
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SOURCE BMO Financial Group