Litigation Expertise

Bank of Montreal RRSP

In 2006, a class action was commenced on behalf of a proposed class of individuals with registered accounts administered by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., BMO Trust Company, BMO Bank of Montreal and BMO InvestorLine Inc. in respect of foreign exchange transactions in RRSP, RRIF and RESP accounts (the “MacDonald Action”).

The claim alleges, in general, that the defendants are not authorized to carry on the practice of automatically converting foreign currency in registered accounts after June 2001 changes to the Income Tax Act.

This action has been certified, documents have been exchanged, and the parties have conducted examinations for discovery. Counsel are currently preparing for trial.

The Class has been defined as:

1. All current and former clients of BMO InvestorLine Inc. (“InvestorLine”) and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. (“BMO NB”) resident in Canada, who held one or more registered accounts administered by BMO Trust, BMO NB and/or InvestorLine Inc. (the “Trust Accounts”) and purchased or sold investments denominated in foreign currency in their Trust Accounts or were paid dividends or interest in a foreign currency in their Trust Account(s), or otherwise received foreign currency into their Trust Account(s) which was then converted to Canadian dollars by the defendants during the period between:
2. June 14, 2001 and September 5, 2011 for:
   1. all clients and former clients of InvestorLine
   2. the 14 clients of BMO NB who opted out of the class proceeding entitled Skopit v. BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., either entirely or with respect to the overlap period with this action; and
3. October 1, 2002 and September 5, 2011 for all other clients of BMO NB.

This action is receiving financial support from the Ontario Class Proceedings Fund.

The Fund pays for some of the disbursements incurred in the course of prosecuting this action, and it will pay any adverse court costs that might be ordered payable by the representative plaintiff.

There will be a levy payable to the Fund that will reduce the amount of any settlement or judgment award to which the class may become entitled.  The levy will be comprised of repayment of any disbursements paid by the Fund and 10% of the net award or settlement funds.

Last Updated January 2018