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

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
paul.gammal@bmo.com

 

Investor Relations
Bill Anderson
(416) 867-7834
bill2.anderson@bmo.com

The Bank of Nova Scotia

Media Relations

Laura Mergelas

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

laura.mergelas@scotiabank.com

 



Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Media Relations

Trish Tervit

(416) 813-9119

trish.tervit@cibc.com

Canadian Western Bank

Investor Relations

Chris Williams

(780) 508-8229

chris.williams@cwbank.com



Laurentian Bank of Canada

Media Relations

Fabrice Tremblay

(438) 989-6070 (m)

(514) 284-4500 x 40020 (o)

fabrice.tremblay@blcgf.ca

National Bank of Canada

Media Relations

Marie-Pierre Jodoin

(514) 394-4209

mariepierre.jodoin@nbc.ca

 

Investor Relations

Marianne Ratté

1-866-517-5455

investorrelations@nbc.ca /
relationsinvestisseurs@bnc.ca



Royal Bank of Canada

RBC Life Insurance Company

Media Relations

Gillian McArdle

(416) 842-4231

gillian.mcardle@rbc.com

 

Investor Relations

Asim Imran

(416) 955-7804

asim.imran@rbc.com

The Toronto-Dominion Bank

Media Relations

Natasha Ferrari

(416) 400-9098

natasha.ferrari@td.com

 

Investor Relations

Gillian Manning

(416) 308-6014

gillian.manning@td.com



Great-West Lifeco Inc.

The Canada Life Assurance Company

Media Relations

Liz Kulyk

(204) 391-8515

media.relations@canadalife.com

 

Investor Relations

Deirdre Neary

(647) 328-2134

deirdre.neary@canadalife.com

Manulife Financial Corporation

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Media Relations

Gillian Earle

(289) 834-0862

gillian_earle@manulife.com

 

Investor Relations

Adrienne O'Neill

(416) 926-6997

adrienne_oneill@manulife.com



Sun Life Financial Inc.

Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada

Media Relations

Rajani Kamath

(416) 979-6070

rajani.kamath@sunlife.com

 

Investor Relations

Leigh Chalmers

(647) 256-8201

investor.relations@sunlife.com


 

SOURCE Canadian Banks and Life Insurance Companies