TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) May 17, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said it placed the ratings on Bank of Montreal (BMO) and its related subsidiaries, including the 'AA-' long-term counterparty credit rating on BMO, on CreditWatch with negative implications. "The CreditWatch placement reflects our heightened concerns over the risk associated with the underlying strength of its enterprise risk management framework, management oversight, and the bank's trading operations following today's announcement that the total marked-to-market commodities trading losses as at April 30, 2007, would be C$680 million before tax," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Donald Chu. "This almost doubles the original estimated pre-tax trading loss of C$350 million-C$450 million that was announced on April 27, 2007," Mr. Chu added.
