News Releases

BMO Nesbitt Burns and Harris Nesbitt to be Renamed BMO Capital Markets

BMO Financial Group announced it is combining the resources and expertise of its investment and corporate banking business under a new name – BMO Capital Markets – signifying its commitment to provide a full range of capabilities to clients in North America and other key international markets.

BMO Capital Markets unifies the previous BMO Nesbitt Burns and Harris Nesbitt brands in Canada and the United States, respectively, under one single brand.

“This name change represents the significant lending power, global trading proficiency and innovative investment banking expertise that have long been associated with BMO Financial Group, and communicates the firm's ability to deliver the full suite of wholesale products and services that define a leading universal investment bank,” said Yvan Bourdeau, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Capital Markets.

The new brand encompasses all of the firm's wholesale banking capabilities, including equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, mergers and acquisitions advisory services, merchant banking, securitization, treasury and risk management, debt and equity research, derivative-based financial products, and institutional sales and trading. With more than 2,000 employees, BMO Capital Markets is located in 26 cities around the world, including 14 locations in North America and 12 in other major international centres.

The BMO Nesbitt Burns name will remain the brand for BMO's Private Client Group in Canada and will continue to be used by the firm's 1,300 plus investment advisors. In addition, the Harris name will remain the brand for BMO's U.S. retail and private banking operations.

BMO Capital Markets is a leading North American financial services provider offering investment and corporate banking, advisory services, treasury and market risk management, institutional investing, and research. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO), which has $312 billion in assets and 34,000 employees as at April 30, 2006. For more information, visit www.bmocm.com.

Backgrounder

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of products and services. This includes equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, merger and acquisitions advisory services, merchant banking, securitization, treasury and market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading. With over 2,000 employees, BMO Capital Markets works proactively with clients to provide innovative and integrated financial solutions.

BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group. Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO) is a highly diversified financial services organization. With total assets of $298 billion at October 31, 2005 and more than 34,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions. The organization's first branches in the U.S. opened in New York in 1858 and Chicago in 1861.

BMO Capital Markets has 14 North American Offices and 26 locations around the world:

North American Offices	International Offices
• Atlanta	• Beijing
• Boston	• Dublin
• Calgary	• Guangzhou
• Chicago	• Hong Kong
• Dallas	• London
• Denver	• Lugano
• Houston	• Melbourne
• Los Angeles	• Munich
• Mexico City	• Rio de Janeiro
• Montreal	• Shanghai
• New York	• Taipei
• Toronto	• Zurich
• San Francisco
• Vancouver

BMO Capital Markets has over 70 equity and debt research analysts, who provide coverage on more than 800 public companies. Our Canadian equity research team has been ranked first every year for the last 25 years in the Brendan Wood International survey of institutional investors. Additionally, StarMine has ranked our Canadian research team first overall for both stock picking and earnings estimates, for the last two years.

BMO Capital Markets F2005 Financials (as of 10/31/2005):

STATISTIC	F2005 VALUE
Revenue	CAD$ 2.741 billion
Net Income	CAD$ 853 million
ROE	21%
Average Assets	CAD$ 163.859 billion
Employees	2,156

Our analyst team covers over 800 companies across diverse industry sectors:

Aerospace

Auto Parts

Business Services

Chemicals & Fertilizers

Commercial & Industrial

Consumer & Leisure

Consumer Staples

Energy & Power

Financial Institutions

Food & Agribusiness

Forestry

Healthcare

Media & Entertainment

Mining

Real Estate

Royalty Trusts, REITS, Business Trusts, Power & Pipeline Trusts

Steel

Technology & Telecommunications

Transportation

Utilities

Ad Backgrounder

In support of its renaming, BMO Capital Markets will launch a multimedia advertising campaign beginning June 19, 2006. The campaign will include print insertions in major business/financial magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and Canada, as well as online and out-of-home components.

The two-pronged campaign, created by StrawberryFrog in New York, targets the c-suite executives of public and private companies. An initial wave of renaming ads will be followed by a series of branding advertisements that speak to the business ambitions of BMO Capital Markets' target audience. The tagline, “Ambition, meet execution,” addresses the common denominator shared by the clients of BMO Capital Markets and its talented professionals, whose personal drive enables the firm to deliver solutions for complex transactions.

“BMO Capital Markets represents ambition – the ambition of our clients and our ability to make their ambition reality,” said Yvan Bourdeau, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Capital Markets. “Ambition is something that permeates our culture and everything we do. We use every resource at our disposal to bring our clients' ambitions to life.”

Print ads are scheduled to run in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fortune, and The Deal, among other financial, business, and trade publications; the online campaign will include the web sites of these media companies as well as Reuters, Forbes, The Economist and others. The out-of-home component of the campaign, scheduled to launch later in the year, will include dioramas in airports of major business destinations.

“We are leveraging our renaming as an opportunity to dramatically increase our brand exposure, particularly in the U.S.,” said Martha Durdin, Managing Director and Director of Marketing for BMO Capital Markets. “The brand positioning stage of the campaign is designed to resonate with our clients and prospects and underscore our ability to compete as a universal bank in North America.”

The name change and branding campaign will also be supported by an in-depth communications program with existing clients in the U.S. and Canada.

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