The ratings on Bank of Montreal (BMO) reflect our assessment of its position as one of the five dominant universal banks in Canada, its well-diversified business base, strong risk-adjusted capital ratio, and prudent credit risk management. The ratings also reflect weak U.S. personal and commercial (P&C) results and high loan losses, heavy reliance on wholesale funds, pressure on mortgage and deposit market share, and integration risk with the Marshall&Ilsley (M&I) acquisition and large commercial real estate (CRE) loan portfolio. We believe that BMO's well-established domestic franchise will continue to provide stable core earnings and good revenue diversification through well-diversified sources of income including a full range of banking, investment banking, wealth management, and insurance products. We believe that
