The ratings on Bank of Montreal (BMO) reflect its strong domestic personal and commercial (P&C) banking business, which provides a solid base for consistent earnings performance. Although the performance of the wholesale banking group has generated only modest results in the last three years despite very robust capital markets, it is showing signs of improvement. The private client group, which is small in proportion to the P&C and investment banking businesses, remains an important element of the bank's overall strategy, and a significant amount of capital is being allocated to grow this business in North America. BMO, which is one of the top five banks in Canada, has a large exposure to U.S. corporate loans relative to the size of
