Strong track record of generating consistent and stable earnings Solid credit risk management infrastructure Very good diversification by geographic and business line Competition continues to intensify in the Chicagoland personal and commercial banking market Exposure to U.S. corporate lending sector Operating expense ratio remains relatively high The ratings on Bank of Montreal (BMO), including the 'A-1(High)' Canadian scale CP rating and the 'P-1(Low)' Canadian scale preferred share rating, reflect the bank's very strong domestic personal and commercial (P&C) bank, which provides it with a solid base for consistent earnings performance. The performance of the wholesale banking group has shown improvement in the first part of 2003, coming off of two years' soft performance that were negatively affected by the difficult
