BMO Capital Markets Expands U.S. Core Rates Practice with Two New Hires

NEW YORK – BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), today announced the expansion of its U.S. Core Rates practice with the hiring of Andrew Lazar and Timothy Shanahan.

Mr. Lazar joins BMO Capital Markets as a Director, focused on Money Managers, Insurance Companies and Hedge Funds. Mr. Shanahan also joins as a Director and will cover the Central Banks and Sovereign Wealth Funds. Both individuals will be located in New York and report to Bill Kirby, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Core Rate Sales.

“Over the past two years, BMO Capital Markets has been significantly expanding its presence in the U.S. The addition of Andy and Tim to our fixed income team sends a strong message to our clients and our competitors about the quality of people we are able to attract, the experience they bring, and their individual track records of success. Collectively, they will be instrumental in strengthening our existing capabilities,” said Mr. Kirby.

Mr. Lazar comes to BMO Capital Markets from Quadriserv Inc., where he was head of AQS Hedge Fund Sales. He was responsible for the entire sales process including client targeting, acquisition, onboarding, and revenue development for 350 target hedge funds in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining Quadriserv Mr. Lazar worked in fixed income sales roles for UBS Securities, Smith Barney and Kidder Peabody. He received a B.S. in Computer Sciences from Hofstra University, and an MBA with honors from Regis University.

Mr. Shanahan joins BMO from UBS Securities, where he spent 15 years. He was Executive Director of Central Bank sales since 2008 and prior to that he spent 12 years in Short Duration Sales. Before joining UBS, Mr. Shanahan was an Associate in Securities Processing at Bank of New York and an Assistant Treasurer at Chase Manhattan Bank. He has a B.S. in Finance from Providence College, and an MBA in Finance from Fordham University Graduate School of Business.

Over the past two years, BMO Capital Markets has hired more than 130 new employees who have joined the firm at a Director level or higher.

BMO Capital Markets U.S. Core Rates Practice
BMO Capital Markets has a dedicated team of specialists that provided liquidity across fixed income securities and OTC derivatives. The U.S. Rates business makes markets, operates around the clock, provides risk management solutions and arranges financing that helps build and support corporations, financial institutions and governments.

BMO Capital Markets Fixed Income Group
BMO Capital Markets Fixed Income Group is a full service broker/dealer specializing in debt securities, including municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury debt, agencies, and mortgage-backed securities. The group provides services, strategies and products specifically targeted to financial institutions, investment managers, issuers, and high net worth individuals. The Sales, Trading and Underwriting departments provide a variety of products, investment strategies and related services specifically selected and designed to meet the needs of financial institutions, other professional portfolio managers and individual investors.

About BMO Capital Markets
BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider, with more than 2,000 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 part of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$437 billion total assets as of April 30, 2011, and more than 45,000 employees as of July 6, 2011.

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