is winding down its retail auto finance business and shifting focus to other areas in a move that will result in an unspecified number of job losses, Canada’s third largest bank said on Saturday.
“By winding down the indirect retail auto finance business, we have the ability to focus our resources on areas where we believe our competitive positioning is strongest,” BMO said in a statement to Reuters. In a letter sent to car dealers and seen by Reuters, the head of the business Paul Hunsley said the termination of the dealer agreement would be effective as of Sept. 15, but the bank would fund all contracts submitted and approved prior to the date.
Gross loans in its retail auto business rose about 34% in the third quarter from a year earlier to C$17.36 billion, and accounted for 2.7% of the bank’s overall loans, according to BMO’s latest financial report released in August.