BMO Financial Group Welcomes New Member to Its European Equity Team

BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO) (TSX:BMO), has hired an expert in Italian, European and Global fund management to broaden the firm´s capabilities in serving the European market.

Enzo Salvati, Managing Director, Institutional Equity Sales, will be based in Lugano, Switzerland and London England. He will report to Jacques Vaillancourt, Managing Director and Head of European Operations. Mr. Salvati will specialize in North American equity products (U.S. and Canada).

"Enzo brings an invaluable amount of wisdom and experience that complements our team and provides our Italian clients with knowledgeable and value–added investment advice."said Mr. Vaillancourt.

Mr. Salvati´s career spans over 25 years in the European financial sector. Prior to joining BMO Capital Markets, Mr. Salvati was Managing Director at Bear Stearns International in London specializing in Italian Bank coverage. He also spent over 17 years with ARCA Sgr, one of the leading independent asset management companies in Italy, as CIO and later CFO leading a successful team of 50 financial professionals.

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full–service North American financial services provider offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of products and services. These include equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, merger and acquisitions advisory services, merchant banking, securitization, treasury management, market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading. With 2,400 professionals in offices in 26 locations around the world, including 14 in North America, BMO Capital Markets works proactively with clients to provide innovative and integrated financial solutions.

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$375 billion total assets and more than 37,000 employees as at July 31, 2008. For more information, visit www.bmocm.com.