CORPORATE PROFILE
BMO Financial Group

Beginning in 1817, BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO) is one of the largest financial services providers in North America. With total assets of $298 billion as at October 31, 2005 and more than 34,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions. BMO serves clients across Canada and in the United States through its Canadian retail arm BMO Bank of Montreal, Chicago-based Harris Bank, a major U.S. mid-west financial services organization which also has wealth management offices and branches across the United States and BMO Nesbitt Burns, one of North America's leading full-service investment firms.

The BMO Financial Group is made up of three client groups:
  • Personal and Commercial Client Group (P&C)
  • Private Client Group (PCG)
  • Investment Banking Group (IBG)
The History of BMO Bank of Montreal

BMO Bank of Montreal, Canada's first chartered bank, opened for business on November 3, 1817. It provided Canada's first sound and plentiful currency and has played a major and continuing role in the development of the country, taking part in the financing of the first transcontinental railway in the 1880s. The Bank took part in the creation of Canadian Confederation in 1867, and served as Canada's central bank until 1935. The first Canadian bank to open branches abroad, it has long been active in markets in Europe, Latin America, and East Asia as well as in the United States. Today it continues as one of Canada's pre-eminent financial institutions and a significant presence in United States and world markets.

History of Harris Bankcorp, Inc.

The Harris organization began in 1882 as N.W. Harris & Co., which was formed by Norman Wait Harris as an investment-banking firm.  Harris Trust and Savings Bank was formed in 1907 and, in 1960, Harris merged with Chicago National Bank. In l972, it was restructured as Harris Bankcorp, Inc.  Harris Bankcorp acquired its first community bank in 1982 and, in September of 1984, BMO Bank of Montreal acquired Harris Bankcorp Inc. In 1994, Harris Bankcorp and Suburban Bancorp, with its 13 banks, combined under the Harris name. In 1996, 54 Chicagoland branches were acquired from Household Bank bringing 250,000 new customers to Harris. In 2001, the First National Bank of Joliet was acquired, adding 18 branches and 65,000 clients, and giving Harris a presence in Will County, the fastest-growing county in Illinois.

www.harrisbank.com

History of BMO Nesbitt Burns

BMO Nesbitt Burns was created by the merger of two investment firms with long and distinguished histories. Nesbitt Thomson traced its origins to 1912; Burns Fry through two predecessor companies to 1925.

After the arrival of new management in 1977, Nesbitt Thomson launched an ambitious program of growth and acquisitions, while at the same time increasing the firm's revenues and earnings very dramatically. After its creation by merger in 1976, Burns Fry established itself as one of Canada's most respected independent houses and the leading firm for international equity trading and mergers and acquisitions. Its 1994 merger with Nesbitt Thomson, which had been acquired by BMO Bank of Montreal in 1987 following changes to the Canadian Bank Act, created Canada's pre-eminent investment firm, with strength in every major field of activity.