Bank of Montreal is working to improve the profitability of its U.S. division.Chris Wattie/Reuters
Bank of Montreal BMO-T has tapped Caroline Dufaux as chief financial officer of its U.S. division while the lender works to improve the unit’s profitability.
Ms. Dufaux is currently CFO of the bank’s capital markets unit, where she provides financial governance, strategic direction and decision-making support.
She will join the U.S. division in the midst of BMO’s efforts to improve its return-on-equity (ROE) – a key measure of profitability – which has been weighed down by the lender’s business in that country.
Ms. Dufaux fills a vacancy left by Rahul Nalgirkar, who was named BMO’s new CFO as Tayfun Tuzun prepares to retire in 2026. She will take on her new role as of Jan. 1, according to an internal memo seen by The Globe and Mail.
BMO declined to comment.
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In 2025, BMO’s ROE rose to 11.3 per cent from 9.8 per cent the previous year, but still shy of its goal of 15 per cent or more in the next few years.
As part of its plan to boost its profitability, BMO reorganized its U.S. business earlier this year by combining its personal, business, commercial-banking and wealth-management units. Aron Levine from Bank of America Corp. joined the bank to lead the division.
The lender sold more than 130 branches in markets where BMO believes it would not be able to grow in a way that would allow it to compete.
During a conference call discussing fourth-quarter results in early December, chief executive Darryl White said the bank plans to add 150 new branches over the next five years, along with other efforts to improve the profitability of the U.S. business.
Ms. Dufaux joined the bank in 2017 as head of capital management in its treasury division. Her mandate was expanded in 2019 to include corporate funding, as well as securitization finance and operations.
Prior to joining BMO, she was the head of capital and leverage management for Barclays’ Americas businesses, based in New York.