BMO Financial Group Proxy Circular Now Available

TORONTO,March 9,2019 -- BMO Financial Group (TSX:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) today announced that it has filed its 2019 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Management Proxy Circular with applicable securities regulators and has mailed it to common shareholders of Bank of Montreal. The document is available on the bank's website athttps://www.bmo.com/home/about/banking/investor-relations/annual-general-meeting,as well as on SEDAR atwww.sedar.comand on EDGAR atwww.sec.gov.

BMO's Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held at the BMO Institute for Learning,inToronto,onTuesday,April 2,2019,at9:30 a.m. EDT. The Management Proxy Circular contains key information for shareholders regarding the meeting and the items to be voted on,which are the election of directors,the appointment of auditors,the advisory vote on the bank's approach to executive compensation,as well as two shareholders proposals. A detailed description of these items is contained in the circular.

Fiscal 2018 was a good year for the bank,with Adjusted Net Income of $6 billion,an increase of 9% from the previous year. The dividends declared grew by 6.2%. At the end of fiscal 2018,Total Shareholder Returnexceeded both the three- and five-year peer-group average,as well as the S&P/TSX composite index.

Underscoring BMO's commitment to values-based leadership and ethical business practices,the bank has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute,as one of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies. BMO has been named to the index for two years in a row.

Earlier this year,BMO was named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The index measures gender equality across internal company statistics,employee policies,external community support and engagement,and gender-conscious product offerings.

About BMO Financial Group

Serving customers for 200 years and counting,BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank,by assets,in North America. With total assets of $807 billion as of January 31,and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees,BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking,wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking,BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

For further information: For News Media Enquiries: Paul Gammal,Toronto,paul.gammal@bmo.com,(416) 867-3996; For Investor Relations Enquiries: Jill Homenuk,jill.homenuk@bmo.com,(416) 867-4770; Christine Viau,christine.viau@bmo.com,(416) 867-6956