BMO Capital Markets Appoints Head of U.S. Asset Based Lending Group

CHICAGO, November 15, 2007 – BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), has appointed Michael Scolaro as Managing Director and Head of the firm’s U.S. Asset Based Lending Group.

Mr. Scolaro is based in Chicago and will lead a 22-person team that focuses primarily on advising clients who want to take advantage of asset-based lending as a flexible form of finance. “With more than 26 years of banking experience and 20 years focused on asset based lending, Mike will be a tremendous asset to both our team and to our clients,” said Surjit Rajpal, Executive Managing Director, Head of Loan Products & Merchant Banking and Co-Head of Leveraged Finance, BMO Capital Markets.

“During the past decade the number of businesses turning to asset based lending has dramatically increased,” added Mr. Rajpal. “BMO Capital Markets is focused on providing a full service for this form of finance to middle market and large corporate companies, which puts us in a strong position for future growth. We are pleased Mike has joined our group to help us continue to capitalize on these opportunities.”

Most recently, Mr. Scolaro was Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of RBS Business Capital in Chicago. During his tenure there, he opened RBS’ asset based lending group in Chicago and significantly grew the business. Mr. Scolaro has also held management positions at Bank of America Business Capital, Heller Business Credit and CIT Business Credit, among other firms. Mr. Scolaro has an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BBA in Finance from University of Notre Dame.

What is Asset Based Lending?
Asset based lending, also known as commercial finance or asset based financing, involves lending to a business against the value of its assets. Asset based lenders specialize in financing businesses and business transactions involving a broad range of products and services, both domestically and internationally. Typical users of asset based lending products include manufacturers, distributors and business service providers. The advantages of asset based lending include competitive pricing, flexible structures and quick decision making.

About the BMO Capital Markets Asset Based Lending Group

The BMO Capital Markets Asset Based Lending Group provides financing for middle market and large corporate companies pursuing mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, restructurings, working capital, leveraged buyouts and growth capital. With the backing of a full-service corporate and investment bank, the group is able to present comprehensive solutions to clients in the Business Services, Commercial & Industrial, Consumer Products, Energy, Financial Institutions, Food, Healthcare, Media, Real Estate & Construction sectors, as well as to Financial Sponsors and Harris Business Banking customers. For more information visit www.bmocm.com/products/corpbanking/ablending

About BMO Capital Markets
BMO Capital Markets is a leading full-service North American financial services provider, with over 2,000 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 more than US$336.7 billion in total assets and 35,000 employees as at July 31, 2007. BMO Financial Group also serves personal and commercial clients in the United States through Chicago-based Harris, an integrated financial services organization that provides more than one million personal and business clients with banking, lending, investing, financial planning, trust administration, portfolio management, family office and wealth transfer services. For more information, visit www.bmo.com.

- 30 -

Media Relations Contacts:

Kim Hanson, Toronto, (416) 867-3996
Kevin Windorf, New York, (212) 885-4111
Chris Nardella, Chicago, (312) 461-6625