FORM 40-F

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 40-F

☐	REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13(A) OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2019		Commission File Number: 1-8481

BCE INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Canada

(Province or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

4813

(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number (if applicable))

98-0134477

(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number (if applicable))

1, carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell, Building A, 7^th Floor,

Verdun, Québec, Canada H3E 3B3, (514) 870-8777

(Address and telephone number of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

CT Corporation System, 28 Liberty St., New York, N.Y. 10005, (212) 894-8940

(Name, address (including zip code) and telephone number (including area code) of agent for service in the United States)

Copies of all correspondence should be sent to:

Michel Lalande

Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary

BCE Inc.

1, carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell

Building A, 7^th Floor

Verdun, Québec H3E 3B3

Canada

Tel: (514) 786-8424

Donald R. Crawshaw

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

125 Broad Street

New York, New York 10004-2498

Tel: (212) 558-4000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Common shares

Trading symbol

BCE

Name of each exchange on which registered

New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

For annual reports, indicate by check mark the information filed with this form:

☒ Annual Information Form ☒ Audited Annual Financial Statements

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report:


Common Shares			903,908,182
First Preferred Shares
Series R			8,000,000
Series S			3,513,448
Series T			4,486,552
Series Y			8,081,491
Series Z			1,918,509
Series AA			11,398,396
Series AB			8,601,604
Series AC			10,029,691
Series AD			9,970,309
Series AE			9,292,133
Series AF			6,707,867
Series AG			4,985,351
Series AH			9,014,649
Series AI			5,949,884
Series AJ			8,050,116
Series AK			22,745,921
Series AL			2,254,079
Series AM			9,546,615
Series AN			1,953,385
Series AO			4,600,000
Series AQ			9,200,000
Total First Preferred Shares			160,300,000

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports); and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

YES: ☒ NO: ☐


Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

YES: ☒ NO: ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Emerging Growth Company ☐

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

PRIOR FILINGS MODIFIED AND SUPERSEDED

The annual report on Form 40-F of BCE Inc. (“BCE”) for the year ended December 31, 2019, at the time of filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”), modifies and supersedes all prior documents filed pursuant to Sections 13, 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act for purposes of any offers or sales of any securities after the date of such filing pursuant to any registration statement or prospectus filed pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 which incorporates by reference such annual report on Form 40-F.

ANNUAL AUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

A. Annual Audited Consolidated Financial Statements

For the BCE annual audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 (the “BCE 2019 Financial Statements”), see pages 111 to 159 of the BCE 2019 Annual Report (the “BCE 2019 Annual Report”), which BCE 2019 Financial Statements are contained in Exhibit 99.2 and are incorporated herein by reference.

B. Management’s Discussion and Analysis

For the BCE management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 (the “BCE 2019 MD&A”), see pages 28 to 108 of the BCE 2019 Annual Report, which BCE 2019 MD&A is contained in Exhibit 99.2 and is incorporated herein by reference.

DISCLOSURE CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in reports filed or submitted under Canadian or U.S. securities laws is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified under those laws, and include controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that the information is accumulated and communicated to management, including BCE’s President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

As of December 31, 2019, management evaluated, under the supervision of and with the participation of the CEO and the CFO, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act, and under National Instrument 52-109 – Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings.

Based on that evaluation, the CEO and CFO concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2019.

INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

A. Management’s report on internal control over financial reporting

The report of BCE’s management entitled “Management’s report on internal control over financial reporting” appearing at page 109 of the BCE 2019 Annual Report, which report is contained in Exhibit 99.3, is incorporated herein by reference.

B. Auditors’ report on internal control over financial reporting

The report of independent registered public accounting firm concerning the effectiveness of BCE’s internal control over financial reporting appearing at page 110 of the BCE 2019 Annual Report, which report is contained in Exhibit 99.3, is incorporated herein by reference.

C. Changes in internal control over financial reporting

There have been no changes during the year ended December 31, 2019 in our internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. The adoption of IFRS 16, Leases, effective January 1, 2019, required the implementation of new accounting systems, processes and controls, which changed the company’s internal controls over lease accounting. No significant changes were made to our internal control over financial reporting due to the adoption of the new standard in 2019.

STATEMENT REGARDING CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

There can be no assurance that our disclosure controls and procedures will detect or uncover all failures to disclose all material information otherwise required to be set forth in our disclosure. Furthermore, a control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance with respect to the reliability of financial reporting and financial statement preparation. Accordingly, BCE does not expect that BCE’s internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. BCE will continue to periodically review its disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting and may make modifications from time to time as considered necessary or desirable.

AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

In respect of the current members of BCE’s Audit Committee (“Audit Committee”), the board of directors of BCE determined that the current Chair of the Audit Committee, Mr. P.R. Weiss, and Mr. D.F. Denison, Ms. K. Lee and Ms. M.F. Leroux are qualified as “audit committee financial experts”, and that all members of the Audit Committee are independent under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange.

CODE OF ETHICS

All employees, directors and officers must follow Bell Canada’s Code of Business Conduct (the “Code of Conduct”), which provides guidelines for ethical behaviour. The Code of Conduct includes additional guidelines for executive officers and management, including the CEO, CFO, Controller and Treasurer. The Code of Conduct is available in the governance section of BCE’s website at BCE.ca and will be provided in print at no charge to any person who sends a written request by mail to BCE Inc. addressed to the Corporate Secretary, at 1, carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell, Building A, 7th Floor, Verdun, Québec, Canada H3E 3B3.

In 2019 and January 2020, amendments were made to the Code of Conduct in order to:

–

update the description of BCE’s goal and strategic imperatives, and include a new message from BCE’s President and Chief Executive Officer;

–

update the sections entitled Trading in Securities and Public Disclosure of Information to clarify the scope of the relevant rules and guidelines;

–

update the section entitled Information Classification and Records Management to clarify employees’ obligation to return any equipment entrusted to them upon termination of the employment relationship;

–

update the section entitled Dealing with Customers to clarify and update certain of its content, including as it relates to ethical practices;

–

update the section entitled Safeguarding Bell Assets – Information Security as it relates to external e-mails; and

–

update the section entitled Work Environment to add information and guidelines relating to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, as well as the prevention of workplace violence and harassment, and to reorganize certain of its content.

In addition to these changes, certain other technical, administrative and non-substantive amendments were made to the Code of Conduct.

A copy of the Code of Conduct, as amended, has been posted on BCE’s website at BCE.ca.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

A brief description of our pre-approval policies and procedures and information about principal accountant fees and services can be found under the sections entitled “Pre-approval policies and procedures” and “External auditors’ fees” on page 34 of our Annual Information Form contained in Exhibit 99.1, which sections are incorporated by reference in this annual report on Form 40-F.

In 2019 and 2018, no audit-related, tax or other services were submitted to BCE’s Audit Committee for approval pursuant to the pre-approval requirement waiver provision set out in paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

Please see the sections entitled “Contractual obligations” and “Indemnifications and guarantees (off-balance sheet)” at page 82 of the BCE 2019 MD&A contained in Exhibit 99.2 (which sections are incorporated by reference in this annual report on Form 40-F) for a discussion of certain off-balance sheet arrangements.

TABULAR DISCLOSURE OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

Please see the section entitled “Contractual obligations” at page 82 of the BCE 2019 MD&A contained in Exhibit 99.2 (which section is incorporated by reference in this annual report on Form 40-F) for a tabular disclosure and discussion of contractual obligations.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

BCE has a separately designated standing Audit Committee established in accordance with section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act. BCE’s Audit Committee is comprised of seven independent members: Mr. P.R. Weiss (Chair), Mr. D.F. Denison, Mr. R.P. Dexter, Mr. I. Greenberg, Ms. K. Lee, Ms. M.F. Leroux and Mr. R.C. Simmonds.

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

Not applicable.

UNDERTAKING

BCE undertakes to make available, in person or by telephone, representatives to respond to inquiries made by the Commission staff, and to furnish promptly, when requested to do so by the Commission staff, information relating to: the securities in relation to which the obligation to file this annual report on Form 40-F arises or transactions in said securities.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

Notwithstanding any reference to BCE’s website or other websites on the World Wide Web in this annual report on Form 40-F or in the documents attached as Exhibits hereto, the information contained in BCE’s website or any other site on the World Wide Web referred to in this annual report on Form 40-F or in the documents attached as Exhibits hereto, or referred to in BCE’s website, is not a part of this annual report on Form 40-F and, therefore, is not filed with the Commission.

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES FROM

NYSE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RULES

A summary of significant differences between corporate governance practices followed by BCE and corporate governance practices required to be followed by U.S. domestic companies under the New York Stock Exchange’s Listing Standards (disclosure required by section 303A.11 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual) is available in the governance section of BCE’s website at BCE.ca.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 40-F and has duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized.

BCE Inc.

By: (signed) Glen LeBlanc

Glen LeBlanc

Executive Vice-President and Chief

Financial Officer

Date: March 11, 2020


		LIST OF EXHIBITS TO FORM 40-F

Annual Information Form of BCE Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2019		Exhibit 99.1

Annual audited consolidated financial statements of BCE Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2019 and the related management’s discussion and analysis		Exhibit 99.2

Management’s report on internal control over financial reporting and the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm thereon		Exhibit 99.3

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Bell Canada Unaudited Selected Summary Financial Information		Exhibit 99.4 Exhibit 99.5

Exhibit to 2019 Annual Financial Statements – Earnings Coverage		Exhibit 99.6

Certifications of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002		Exhibit 99.31

Certification of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002		Exhibit 99.32

XBRL Instance Document		Exhibit 101