BMO Financial Group Proxy Circular Now Available

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 15, 2013) - BMO Financial Group (TSX:BMO)(NYSE:BMO) today announced that it has mailed its 2013 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Management Proxy Circular to common shareholders of Bank of Montreal.

BMO's Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held at the Delta Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. (local time).

BMO's management proxy circular provides Shareholders with important information to make voting decisions on the election of Directors, the appointment of Shareholders' auditors, the approval of the approach to executive compensation and shareholder proposals.

One of the governing principles of BMO's compensation objectives is to align compensation with Shareholder interests. In 2012, the Bank had strong financial results. Earnings grew markedly relative to the prior year and at a faster rate than most of its Canadian banking peers.

Nevertheless, funding for all incentive pools was down because performance was below the challenging growth goals which were directly linked to the Bank's strategic objectives. Consequently, on the recommendation of its Human Resources Committee, the Board set the total direct compensation awarded to Bill Downe, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group, for 2012 at $9.20 million - below target and down from 2011.

"In 2012, Bill Downe, the management team and employees successfully positioned the bank for future growth in revenue, profitability and shareholder value while delivering record net income," said J. Robert S. Prichard, Chairman of the Board. "The Bank made major advances in achieving scale in the Bank's U.S. operating platform, delivering essential changes in technology architecture across the Bank and charting a clear path to enhancing the Bank's efficiency while building toward sustainable competitive advantage from a differentiated customer experience."

BMO has filed the 2013 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Management Proxy Circular with securities regulators. The document is available on the Canadian Securities Administrators' web site at www.sedar.com, on the EDGAR section of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's web site at http://www.sec.gov/info/edgar.shtml and on the Bank's website at http://www.bmo.com/home/about/banking/investor-relations/annual-reports-proxy-circulars and http://www.bmo.com/accueil/a-propos-de-bmo/services-bancaires/relations-avec-les-investisseurs/rapports-annuels.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $542 billion as at January 31, 2013, and more than 46,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.