News Releases

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(Marketwire - Sept. 12, 2011) - BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO)(TSX:BMO), today announced two new hires in its foreign exchange practice. Steve Santa-Maria has re-joined the team as Managing Director responsible for growing the firm's institutional business. Robert Brichkowski has joined as Managing Director, and will be responsible for growing BMO's U.S. Real Money FX Sales business.

"The addition of these two talented individuals to our team will help us increase our customer penetration and add expertise to our current initiatives," said Jamie Thorsen, Global Head of Foreign Exchange Products and China Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets. "Their experience and expertise will help elevate BMO's FX's efforts as a dominant service provider in North America and globally."

Mr. Santa-Maria has more than 25 years of experience in foreign exchange and interest rate products including 14 years at BMO, and will report to Ed Solari, Managing Director, N.Y. Regional Sales Manager. Mr. Santa-Maria re-joins BMO from Cantor Fitzgerald where he was responsible for the build-out of FX coverage in North America. Previously, Standard Chartered bank, Mr. Santa-Maria effectively grew distribution channels for the company's Emerging Market Debt and FX products. Mr. Santa-Maria has a Bachelors Degree from Long Island University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Mr. Brichkowski, who has more than 22 years of experience in foreign exchange sales and trading, will report to Debbie Rechter, Managing Director, U.S. National Sales Manager. He joins BMO from RBS/ABN Amro where he spent the last seven years building their Real Money FX Sales effort Mr. Brichkowski received his BA in English from Boston College, his MBA from Columbia University and his MA, M Ed., in Human Development & Psychology from Harvard University.

About BMO's Foreign Exchange Group

BMO's Foreign Exchange Group is a team of nearly 100 professionals based in eight cities around the world from Beijing to Chicago. The FX group holds a dominant position in the Canadian-dollar foreign exchange market and is top-ranked by large hedge funds and pension funds for institutional liquidity and pricing capacity. Their recent awards include:

• Top 20 FX Bank Globally: 2010, FX Week Magazine Survey
• Top 10 of global banks for BMO Economics in 2010, Reuters Foreign Exchange Accuracy Poll
• #2 Best bank for Canadian Dollar: 2010, FX Week Magazine Survey
• #1 Best bank for Canadian dollar for corporates: 2010, FX Week Magazine Survey
• #2 Best bank for Canadian dollar for investors and banks: 2010, FX Week Magazine Survey
• #1 "Most Improved Overall Market Share": 2010, Euromoney FX survey
• #1 "Most Improved Market Share by Size Over $250 billion": 2010, Euromoney FX survey

For more information, visit: http://www.bmocm.com/fx.

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider, with nearly 2,200 employees operating in 15 North American offices and 27 worldwide, offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of investment and corporate banking products and services. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO)(TSX:BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$499 billion total assets and more than 47,000 employees as at July 31, 2011.