BMO Harris Bank will move its $14 billion retail brokerage and advisory business to LPL Financial’s platform by the middle of next year, according to an announcement by LPL.

BMO Harris Financial Advisors (BHFA) includes 115 financial advisors who will transition to the LPL platform.

In an email, Patrick O’Herlihy, a spokesman for the bank, said, "BHFA’s partnership with LPL will provide best-in-class technology at the scale and pace that will help us differentiate our services and deepen our relationships with clients."

BMO Harris is the second large institution within the past few months to partner with LPL to support its retail brokerage and advisory business. In July, LPL said Buffalo, N.Y.- based M&T Bank Corp. will transition to its platform in mid-2021 and will operate under a new name. The retail side of that business has more than 170 advisors and about $20 billion in brokerage and advisory assets.

At the time of the M&T announcement, LPL had noted that this year it plans to invest $160 million in technology, and the firm has grown its investment year over year. It said clients will benefit from access to innovative investment solutions and enhanced financial planning tools and an enhanced digital service experience, including eDelivery and eSignature capabilities and easy to access statements and performance reports. Advisors and staff will have access to LPL’s technology platform, offering integrated workflows and customizable capabilities to help increase efficiency, provide a better user experience, and, ultimately, afford advisors more time to focus on client relationships, the company said.

BMO retail units have come under fire for conflicts of interest involving two advisors. Last September, BHFA and BMO Asset Management Corp. agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $37 million  to settle charges for failing to tell clients about certain aspects of how two advisors selected investments in their retail investment advisory program, known as the Managed Asset Allocation Program (MAAP), which included the selection of more expensive investments from which BMO advisers profited.

According to the SEC, the BMO units failed to disclose that from July 2012 to March 2016 they invested about 50% of client assets in their retail MAAP in proprietary mutual funds. This, the SEC said, resulted in higher management fees for BMO Asset Management, which managed the funds. BMO Harris Financial Advisors would invest client assets from the program in higher-cost share classes, when they were eligible for lower-cost share classes, the SEC said.

Rich Steinmeier, LPL Financial managing director and divisional president for business development., said they are excited to welcome BMO Harris Financial Advisors to LPL’s network of institutional clients, and look forward to helping them serve and support their clients, expand their value proposition, and grow their business moving forward.

Headquartered in Chicago, BMO Harris Bank is the 21st largest bank in the U.S., based on assets. Its parent company is Bank of Montreal.

LPL Financial is headquartered in Fort Mill, S.C., San Diego and Boston, and is the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer.