BMO Capital Markets Wins Top Marks in Foreign Exchange from Euromoney Magazine

* BMO Capital Markets places first in global FX market share growth
* Euromoney distinctions are the latest in series of significant FX awards
* BMO Capital Markets is a dominant player in Canadian dollar trading

TORONTO and LONDON - BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), has placed first in foreign exchange market share growth in Euromoney Magazine’s 2010 annual survey.



The report, which polls the views of some of the world’s largest companies, recognized BMO Capital Markets in two categories: “Most Improved Overall Market Share by Volume” and “Most Improved Market Share by Size over US$250 billion.“ Additionally, BMO Capital Markets ranked second in Most Improved Market Share in North America.



“In the survey, which matters most to the FX industry, BMO Capital Markets’ massively improved performance in the Euromoney poll shows it is a bank to watch in global foreign exchange,” said Clive Horwood, Editor, Euromoney Magazine.



The Euromoney FX survey is the benchmark measure for the FX industry, with results based on qualitative and quantitative responses from thousands of companies around the world. This year the survey took in more than 11,000 votes. Treasurers, traders and investors at industrial and commercial corporations, institutional investors and state agencies worldwide rate the banks they use to conduct their currency transactions in terms of both transaction volume and quality of service.



“The recognition by Euromoney is significant because it demonstrates our increasing importance in this market and our growing global footprint,” said Jamie Thorsen, Global Head, Foreign Exchange Products and China Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets. “It also represents our strength in the marketplace and the significant momentum that BMO Capital Markets has gained especially since the opening of our London FX desk.”



BMO Capital Markets opened a foreign exchange sales and trading desk in London, England in 2007. The move was designed to further bolster BMO Capital Markets’ dominant position in the Canadian dollar.



The Euromoney distinctions are the latest in a line of awards that BMO Capital Markets has recently garnered in foreign exchange. Earlier this year, BMO Capital Markets was named one of the most popular market makers in China by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETs), the interbank trading platform in China. In 2009, BMO Capital Markets received the Best Foreign Exchange Bank in Canada award by European CEO Magazine and was named the Best Bank for the Canadian Dollar by FX Week Magazine. “In China, Europe and North America, BMO’s Foreign Exchange Group has been recognized as a world-class team again and again,” added Ms. Thorsen.



About BMO’s Foreign Exchange Group



BMO Capital Markets’ 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. For more information, visit: www.bmocm.com/products/marketrisk/fx/



About BMO Capital Markets



BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider, with over 2,200 employees operating in 15 North American offices and 28 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, TSX: BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$373 billion total assets and more than 36,000 employees as at January 31, 2010. For more information, visit: www.bmocm.com



About Euromoney

Euromoney Magazine was created in 1969 to cover the re-emergence of the international cross-border capital markets. The euromarket, after which the magazine is named, is the predecessor to today’s mainstream global capital markets. Euromoney reported on, and championed, this market and its growth, in the process becoming the prime magazine of the wholesale financial world, its institutions and users. For more information, visit: www.euromoney.com