BMO Capital Markets Continues to Grow its U.S. Public Finance Business

Largest bank qualified municipal Bond dealer in Illinois strengthened with four new investment banking hires

CHICAGO – BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), announces the hiring of four new Public Infrastructure bankers.

Jeff Holt, Neil Pritz, Eric Zampol and Christopher Cochran have joined the Fixed Income Group covering Public Sector and Infrastructure. Holt and Pritz join as a Managing Directors and Zampol and Cochran as Vice Presidents. Cochran’s focus will be supporting the expansion of our firm’s capabilities in the health care sector.

“Public infrastructure will be one of the major accelerants to the North American economy. With the addition of seasoned and specialized investment bankers such as Neil, Eric and Chris we are well on our way of becoming one of North America’s leading public finance teams. We can help state and municipal governments manage new debt offerings, refinancing and restructurings to get their much needed infrastructure projects done now and get people back to work,” said James Kubik, Managing Director, U.S. Public Finance.

Jeff Holt has almost 30 years of experience in investment banking, the majority of which has been focused on working with large maritime ports, transportation infrastructure clients and Class 1 railroads structuring over $24 billion in debt obligations, derivatives and other securities. Jeff’s previous experience includes positions at Goldman Sachs & Company, PaineWebber, First Boston and Morgan Stanley. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board and graduated cum laude from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Finance.

Neil Pritz was previously a Managing Director with Banc of America Securities in Chicago where he developed the firm’s public finance practice in the Upper Midwest. Neil has also held leadership positions at Mesirow Financial and Banc One Capital Markets. Neil has more than 20 years originating and managing new issue debt offerings, refinancings and restructurings for state and local governments, private and public educational institutions and other tax-exempt borrowers. He holds a BA in Humanities from Evergreen State College, and an MA and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Eric Zampol has over six years of experience in mergers and acquisitions and infrastructure finance working in Goldman Sachs’ San Francisco office. Eric focuses on large transportation and infrastructure clients and has completed over $20 billion in debt underwritings and derivatives in addition to being actively involved in several significant corporate acquisitions and public concessions. He graduated with honors from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Economics.

Previously, Christopher Cochran was a Vice President with RBC Capital Markets in the Chicago Public Finance office offering bond, derivative and credit facility financings. He earned a BBA with a concentration in Finance and Business Economics from University of Notre Dame.

About BMO Capital Markets Fixed Income Group
BMO Capital Markets Fixed Income Group is a full service broker/dealer committed to continuing to expand our capabilities in the municipal bond marketplace. The firm specializes in debt securities, including municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury debt, agencies, and mortgage-backed securities. We provide services, strategies and products specifically targeted to financial institutions, investment managers, issuers, and high net worth individuals.

About BMO Capital Markets
BMO Capital Markets is a leading full-service North American financial services provider, with over 2,400 employees operating in 14 North American offices and 26 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$361 billion total assets and 37,000 employees as at January 31, 2009.