BMO's chief seeks clarity on trade in order to finance, advise on Canada nation-building projects

By Nivedita Balu

TORONTO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal BMO.TO is ready to finance Canadian infrastructure projects and can help attract international capital into the country but will need more clarity on trade and tax policies, the lender's CEO told Reuters on Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to speed up the approval of what he calls nation-building projects, potentially including ports and oil pipelines, to help Canada's economy weather U.S. tariffs.

"We can help with the financing, with the advice on the development of projects. We can also help with the attraction of international capital into Canada with all of the advantages that we have here," BMO's chief executive officer, Darryl White, said on the sidelines of a conference on U.S.-Canada relations hosted by the bank.

White spoke to Reuters a day after U.S. President Donald Trump promised to treat Canada fairly in trade talks but cast doubt on the future of a continental trade deal that also includes Mexico.

"The challenge is, the international investor has sat up and said, 'Oh, Canada, that's interesting and maybe that's an alternative to investing a dollar in the United States.' We're not yet at the stage where we've convinced them," White said, noting the lack of clarity on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, inter-provincial trade barriers and competitive tax policies.

"We've got their attention, but we haven't convinced them because they don't have clarity on all these things," he said.

Meanwhile in Calgary, Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO CEO Dave McKay said Canada had been too risk-averse for too long, adding that timelines for the approval of projects had been protracted due to what he termed excessive caution.

"What are we afraid of? We're afraid of making a mistake ... we've bubble-wrapped our economy and we're waiting for someone else to solve it, but we have to solve it ourselves," the head of Canada's largest bank told the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

Canada has economic leverage, McKay said, in the form of U.S. demand for its oil and Asian demand for its liquefied natural gas.

But he said the Canadian government needs to grant permitting approval to major projects as a first step, adding that global capital will only start to flow once investors have confidence that the country is serious about building new energy infrastructure.

BMO's White is betting on a prosperous North American economy in the coming decades. Nearly 40% of BMO's income comes from south of the border and 50% from Canada.

"I'm encouraged ... but we need to stop walking and start running," he said.