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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 13, 2011) - BMO Capital Markets, the investment & corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (TSX:BMO)(NYSE:BMO), announced today that it is creating a new role to centralize balance sheet and risk management across all of its lines of business. Eric Tripp, President, BMO Capital Markets, will focus on this area, which includes oversight of capital, liquidity and exposures in both the investment and corporate banking and trading products businesses.

In conjunction with Mr. Tripp's new role, Patrick Cronin has been appointed Head of Trading Products, where he will have responsibility for all trading-related lines of business including debt products, equity products and research, financial products, foreign exchange products, investor products and credit investment management, securitization and asset portfolio management.

"We are focused on being a trusted advisor to all of our clients by combining deep knowledge with specialized expertise across key industry sectors," said Tom Milroy, CEO, BMO Capital Markets. "Meeting this objective requires, among other things, an increased focus on how we manage our balance sheet and risk across the entire business."

Mr. Tripp will continue in his role as President and deputy head of BMO Capital Markets, reporting to Mr. Milroy. He will also continue to have responsibility for the BMO Capital Markets operations in Europe and Asia, as well as the New York and Chicago offices. Mr. Tripp is a member of both the BMO Capital Markets Executive Committee and the BMO Financial Group Management Committee.

Mr. Tripp joined Burns Fry, a predecessor firm of BMO Capital Markets, in 1983. As President of BMO Capital Markets since 2008 and Head of Trading Products since 2005, he has played a key role in driving the growth of the business. Mr. Tripp holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a B.A. in Economics from Queen's University.

Mr. Cronin joined BMO Capital Markets in the equity derivatives group in 1993. In 2001, he was appointed co-head of the group and four years later was named co-head of financial products. Since 2008, Mr. Cronin has been head of both the financial products and debt products groups, overseeing a global business that includes cross asset derivatives trading and origination, structured products, structured finance, commodities and fixed income. He holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a B.A. from the University of Toronto.

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American financial services provider, with more than 2,000 employees operating in 14 North American offices and 26 worldwide, offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of investment and corporate banking products and services. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO)(TSX:BMO), one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with US$410 billion total assets and 38,000 employees as at January 31, 2011.