TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 1, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that the Bank of Montreal's (BMO; AA-/Stable/A-1+) announced restructuring charge of C$135 million (C$88 million after tax) would not affect the ratings or outlook on BMO or any of its rated subsidiaries, given the modest impact on the bank's overall earnings, which historically have been very consistent and of high quality. Although the restructuring charge was characterized as necessary, to allow the bank to focus on enhancing customer service and improving processes and systems across the bank, it appears that this initiative was also implemented to address sluggish revenue growth, incremental erosion in market share, and declining net interest margin, all of which have put pressure on
