Press Release

BMO InvestorLine Expands Research Offering with Earnings Webcasts and Briefing.com

TORONTO, FEBRUARY 26, 2001 — BMO InvestorLine, Bank of Montreal's direct brokerage, is again expanding its research offering, with the launch of live Earnings Webcasts and top U.S. market analysis from Briefing.com.

Earnings Webcasts enable BMO InvestorLine clients to access a selection of North American companies quarterly and annual meetings online. Clients can listen to and view live and archived meetings. In addition, a search feature allows clients to find archived, current or upcoming webcast events.

"One of the primary advantages of online direct investing has been the ability to research and monitor investments, anytime, anywhere. With BMO InvestorLine's Earnings Webcasts service, this has been significantly augmented to include live monitoring of emerging, investment-critical corporate developments," said Tom Flanagan, President and COO, BMO InvestorLine.

BMO InvestorLine is also expanding its online research with the addition of Briefing.com, a leading Internet provider of live market analysis for U.S. stocks, U.S. bonds and world foreign exchange market participants. Clients now have access to U.S. market analysis, including market snapshots, stock upgrades, downgrades and Story Stocks®, updated throughout the trading day.

Briefing.com also strengthens an already sophisticated Fixed Income Online offering. BMO InvestorLine clients can access a range of services to help them analyze and evaluate the U.S. Bond market including:

• Intra day commentary
• A weekly outlook
• Federal Reserve Brief, and Interest Rate Brief

In addition, BMO InvestorLine has added Reuters news service, offering clients breaking financial and market news throughout the day. BMO InvestorLine has also partnered with Morningstar Canada to offer more research to mutual fund investors; it also provides Morningstar Market Movers, which profiles selected securities for each business day.

"These enhancements are proof of our commitment to continually search for solutions that will bring superior market research to our self-directed clients," said Mr. Flanagan.

BMO InvestorLine is one of Canada's leading direct brokerages, placing in the top three in the most recent survey by Internet quality measurement firm GomezCanada^*.

BMO InvestorLine is part of Bank of Montreal's Private Client Group, which has total assets under management and administration and term deposits of $234 billion. The Private Client Group is focused on wealth management in Canada and the United States, which represents the fastest growing area in the financial services category. It provides integrated banking and financial services to meet rapidly changing client needs.

*GomezCanada Winter 2000 Internet Brokers Scorecard

Contacts:
Ian Blair, Toronto, (416) 927-2740
Lucie Gosselin, Montreal, (514) 877-1101
Laurie Grant, Vancouver, (604) 665-7596

Internet:
www.bmoinvestorline.com