Following a review of Bank of Montreal (BMO) under our revised bank criteria (published on Nov. 9, 2011), we are affirming our 'A+/A-1' issuer credit rating on BMO. The outlook is stable. Our rating on BMO reflects our adequate scores for the bank's business position, capital and earnings, and risk position, and average funding and adequate liquidity. The issuer credit rating on BMO incorporates one notch of uplift, reflecting BMO's high systemic importance in Canada and our assessment of the Canadian government as supportive. We expect the bank to continue to generate consistent earnings, supported by its stable retail banking operations and to benefit from its higher proportion of commercial lending with better growth prospects and manageable loan losses. As
