BMO Financial Group to Hold 192nd Annual Meeting in Winnipeg on March 23,
2010

TORONTO, March 18 /CNW/ - BMO Financial Group will hold its 192nd Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. The meeting will take place in the Midway and West ballrooms at The Fairmont Winnipeg, 2 Lombard Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba at 9:30 a.m. CDT (10:30 a.m. EDT).

Investors, media and other interested parties can access the annual meeting as follows:

    
    -   Time: 9:30 a.m. CDT (10:30 a.m. EDT)
    -   Via telephone, listen-only mode, 1-866-696-5910 toll free or
        [phone] locally
    -   Via internet, www.bmo.com/investorrelations.
    

Full text of executive remarks will be available at the aforementioned website.

Bank of Montreal's Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Proxy Circular and 2009 Annual Report were mailed to shareholders commencing on February 26, 2010. These documents are available online at www.bmo.com/investorrelations.

BMO has been in Manitoba for 133 years. The first Bank of Montreal branch in the province opened in Winnipeg in 1877 - the same year as the first shipment of Prairie wheat overseas, and a year earlier than the arrival of a railway line to the United States. Today, BMO's 400 employees across the Province are dedicated to defining exceptional customer experience, serving Manitobans through 22 branches located across the province, including our newest $2.5 million branch at McPhillips & Machray in Winnipeg. In 2009, BMO made more than $2.7 billion in debt financing available to more than 5000 businesses in Manitoba.

For further information: For News Media Enquiries: Ralph Marranca, Toronto, [email protected], [phone]; Ronald Monet, Montreal, [email protected], [phone]; Jim Kappel, Chicago, [email protected], [phone]; For Investor Relations Enquiries: Viki Lazaris, Toronto, [email protected], [phone]; Steven Bonin, Toronto, [email protected], [phone]; Internet: www.bmo.com