Bank of Montreal said on Friday it was withdrawing from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), making it the first Canadian lender to quit one of the world's top banking sector climate coalitions. BMO's action follows that of U.

The lender joins a host of big banks in the United States, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., that have withdrawn from the group convened by the United Nations, as Donald Trump gets set to become the president of the U.S.

Bank of Montreal has withdrawn from the UN-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance that aims to accelerate climate action among financial institutions. It becomes the first Canadian bank to pull out of the alliance, but follows on withdrawals by major U.S. banks ahead of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.

By Nivedita Balu TORONTO (Reuters) -TD Bank, Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada said on Friday they were withdrawing from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, joining the big-six U.S. banks in quitting the banking sector climate coalition.

Donald Trump's return to the White House next week. Trump has been critical of efforts by governments to prescribe climate-change policies. The four Canadian banks are TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).