Stock ledgers from the 1800s seen in the Bank of Montreal vault at head office in Old Montreal, Quebec, May 12, 2017.
Photographer: Christinne Muschi/BLOOMBERGInside The Vault With Canada’s Oldest Banking Secrets
“You are what you are because of your past.”
The soul of Canada’s oldest bank lies beneath the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal in a vault protected by the guardians of history.
At Bank of Montreal’s head office, a '60s-era edifice overlooking the Place d’Armes square in this Quebec city, an elevator descends four floors to the subterranean home of one of Canada’s oldest corporate archives. There, in a vault guarded by a steel door and shielded from public access, lies a collection spanning two centuries.