Joint Statement By Canadian Banks And Life Insurance Companies Regarding Annual Meetings In 2021

Canada NewsWire

TORONTO, Dec. 15, 2020 /CNW/ – This is a joint statement issued by BMO, CIBC, Canadian Western Bank, Laurentian Bank, National Bank, RBC, Scotiabank, TD Bank Group, Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, Manulife and Sun Life. Each of us continues to actively monitor COVID-19 developments and the directives from public health and government authorities for group gatherings and social distancing. We have been taking a series of proactive precautionary measures to help protect the health and well-being of our employees, clients and communities. This degree of care and concern extends to all of our shareholders and policyholders, and we have been carefully considering alternatives for our respective annual meetings in 2021.

The health and well-being of our employees, clients, investors and communities is our collective priority. As a result of the anticipated ongoing impact of COVID-19, and in consideration of the evolving protocols from public health and government authorities, we have jointly obtained a court order that allows us to hold our annual meetings in 2021, in whole or in part, using electronic means. The order permits our meetings to be conducted over one or more of webcasting, teleconference or other electronic means, in each case in addition to, or instead of, an in-person meeting, and permits alternative means for distributing meeting materials. In March 2020, we jointly obtained a similar court order. We are considering ways to enhance the participant experience in 2021, leveraging the learnings from our respective 2020 annual meetings. The order was obtained because Canadian banks and insurance companies are not permitted to conduct an electronic annual meeting in lieu of an in-person meeting without relief from the court.  

We believe these precautions are prudent measures to protect the health and well-being of our stakeholders, while supporting shareholder and policyholder engagement and their ability to attend and exercise their rights.

The specific arrangements for each annual meeting will be announced separately prior to the scheduled date. We encourage our shareholders and policyholders to visit our websites in advance of our annual meetings for the most current information.


Bank of Montreal


BMO Life Assurance Company

Media Relations

Paul Gammal
(416) 867-3996
[email protected]

 

Investor Relations
Bill Anderson
(416) 867-7834
[email protected]


The Bank of Nova Scotia

Media Relations

Laura Mergelas

(437) 244-7863 (m) | (416) 285-2639 (o)


[email protected]

 


Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Media Relations

Trish Tervit

(416) 813-9119


[email protected]


Canadian Western Bank

Investor Relations

Chris Williams

(780) 508-8229


[email protected]


Laurentian Bank of Canada

Media Relations

Fabrice Tremblay

(438) 989-6070 (m)

(514) 284-4500 x 40020 (o)


[email protected]


National Bank of Canada

Media Relations

Marie-Pierre Jodoin

(514) 394-4209


[email protected]

 

Investor Relations

Marianne Ratté

1-866-517-5455


[email protected] /
[email protected]


Royal Bank of Canada


RBC Life Insurance Company

Media Relations

Gillian McArdle

(416) 842-4231


[email protected]

 

Investor Relations

Asim Imran

(416) 955-7804


[email protected]


The Toronto-Dominion Bank

Media Relations

Natasha Ferrari

(416) 400-9098


[email protected]

 

Investor Relations

Gillian Manning

(416) 308-6014


[email protected]


Great-West Lifeco Inc.


The Canada Life Assurance Company

Media Relations

Liz Kulyk

(204) 391-8515


[email protected]

 

Investor Relations

Deirdre Neary

(647) 328-2134


[email protected]


Manulife Financial Corporation


The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Media Relations

Gillian Earle

(289) 834-0862


[email protected]

 

Investor Relations

Adrienne O’Neill

(416) 926-6997


[email protected]


Sun Life Financial Inc.


Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada

Media Relations

Rajani Kamath

(416) 979-6070


[email protected]

 

Investor Relations

Leigh Chalmers

(647) 256-8201


[email protected]

 

SOURCE Canadian Banks and Life Insurance Companies