Canada's BMO Financial appoints Darrel Hackett as new US CEO

This image provided by BMO shows Darrel Hackett. Canadian and U.S. banking giant BMO Financial said Thursday, April 20, 2023 it has named Darrel Hackett as its U.S. CEO. Hackett has been with BMO since 2004 and replaces Dave Casper, who is planning on retire this summer. (Jovanka Novakovic/BMO via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Canadian and U.S. banking giant BMO Financial said Thursday it has named Darrel Hackett as its U.S. CEO, promoting an insider and elevating a person of color to a role where there are few at that level in the financial industry.

Hackett, who has been with BMO since 2004, will replace Dave Casper, who is planning on retiring this summer. Before this promotion, Hackett was head of BMO's U.S. Wealth Management division.

Hackett, 50, also ran the bank's U.S. business banking division.

There are only a handful of Black and Latino senior financial executives in the U.S. The only Black CEO of a major U.S. bank is M&T Bank's Rene Jones, who took over that role in 2017.

In a statement, BMO Financial Group CEO Darryl White said Hackett's promotion is part of the company's work “for the elimination of barriers to inclusion."

“Darrel is a purpose-driven, high-performing and client-focused leader and I am excited to work with him in this new role," White said.

With its recent purchase of Bank of the West, Toronto-based BMO is now the eight largest bank in North America with more than $1.1 trillion in assets. While it is a major player in the Canadian banking market, its purchase of Bank of the West marked its push into the U.S. banking system.

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Hackett's first name. It's Darrel, not Darrell.