The building at 12000 N. Washington St. in Thornton. (Google Street View)
After acquiring Bank of the West earlier this year, Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank is trimming its local workforce.
BMO, a subsidiary of Canada’s Bank of Montreal, told the state in a letter this week it will lay off 56 former Bank of the West employees currently working locally.
In the July 11 letter, BMO cited “changing business needs” as the reason for the layoffs starting Sept. 15, and said the employees work at a facility at 12000 N. Washington St. in Thornton.
A company spokesperson, however, said the majority of employees that will be laid off work remotely, and that address is considered a hub for remote workers across the state.
BMO completed the acquisition of Bank of the West in February in a $13.8 billion all-cash deal to strengthen the company’s footprint in the Western and Midwestern U.S.
The Bank of the West name remains in place for now but will be dropped in favor of BMO come September, according to the company. The spokesperson emphasized that BMO isn’t closing any Bank of the West branches.
BMO informed the state of its plans to lay off the branch’s 56 employees in order to comply with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) Act, which requires advance notice of significant layoffs.
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Bank of the West held 3.5 percent of bank deposits in the Denver metropolitan area as of June 30, 2022, the most recent date available. That was enough to rank No. 7.
