Matthew James Lee's questions to Bank of Montreal (BMO) leadership • Q2 2025
Question
Matthew James Lee from Canaccord Genuity Group inquired about the U.S. commercial portfolio, asking what management is hearing from customers that provides comfort on credit risk and what tariff assumptions are in their models.
Answer
CRO Piyush Agrawal explained that the weaker macroeconomic outlook, including higher unemployment forecasts, drove the performing PCL build. Nadim Hirji, Group Head of Commercial Banking, added that client sentiment is improving as they navigate the environment well. Piyush Agrawal clarified that the base case model now incorporates a significant deterioration in Canadian GDP and a rise in unemployment to 8%, reflecting announced tariffs.