News Releases

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Dec 10, 2013) - BMO Harris Bank was recognized today by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for its continuing progress in corporate equality. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

"We believe it's important to support and recognize the contributions of our LGBT employees -- they are a key part, along with all our employees, of our future success and growth," said Brad Chapin, Executive Vice President, Business Banking, BMO Harris Bank. "This recognition demonstrates our commitments in action to further promote an equitable and inclusive environment for all."

The policies, benefits and practices businesses must implement to earn a perfect score are best-in-class demonstrations of corporate commitments to LGBT workers. In the inaugural CEI 12 years ago, 13 businesses earned a 100 percent. After two revisions to the scorecard in the following decade, major businesses kept apace and competed with one another, leading to the 303 top performers today. The top rated businesses span across industries, geographies and size.

"Corporate America has long recognized the imperative of LGBT inclusion by implementing their own LGBT-friendly policies ahead of lawmakers," said Workplace Equality Program Director Deena Fidas. "We are at the front of a new era in which major businesses are not only meeting ever-higher new bars for workplace fairness, they are exceeding them by becoming social and public policy change agents in the process. They recognize equality is not just the right thing to do, it is sound business practice."

Over the past 12 years, the CEI has become the gold standard for corporate policies and practices related to LGBT employees and their families. The CEI rates companies on 40 such policies and practices. A total of 934 businesses have been rated in the 2014 CEI, including the entire Fortune 500. This year, a record 301 of the Fortune 500-ranked businesses have official CEI ratings, with the other 197 unofficially rated based upon publicly available data.

The 2014 Corporate Equality Index report is available at www.hrc.org/cei. 

About BMO Harris Bank
BMO Harris Bank provides a broad range of personal banking products and so lutions through more than 600 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. BMO Harris Bank's commercial banking team provides a combination of sector expertise, local knowledge and mid-market focus throughout the U.S. For more information about BMO Harris Bank, go to the company fact sheet. Banking products and services are provided by BMO Harris Bank N.A. and are subject to bank or credit approval. BMO Harris Bank^® is a trade name used by BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC. BMO Harris Bank is part of BMO Financial Group, a North American financial organization with approximately 1,600 branches, and CDN $537 billion in assets (as of October 31, 2013).