Bank of Montreal to close retail auto finance business, flags job losses

By Nivedita Balu

TORONTO (Reuters) -Bank of Montreal (BMO) is winding down its retail auto finance business and shifting focus to other areas in a move that will result in an unspecified number of job losses, Canada’s third largest bank said on Saturday.

The move, applicable in Canada and the United States, comes after BMO’s bad debt provisions in retail trade surged to C$81 million ($60 million) in the quarter ended July 31 compared with a recovery of C$9 million a year ago, in a sign of…