BMO Financial Group Proxy Circular Now Available

TORONTO,March 7,2020 --BMO Financial Group (TSX:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) today announced that it has filed its 2020 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 atwww.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,March 31,2020,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,an amendment to the bank's amended and restated stock option plan,as well as three shareholders proposals. A detailed description of these items is contained in the circular.

BMO encourages shareholders to vote by proxy as early as possible to ensure their shares are represented at the meeting. Shareholders who will not be present in person at the meeting but wish to participate can watch the meeting and ask questions online through a live webcast atwww.bmo.com/home/about/banking/investor-relations/annual-general-meeting.

BMO showed strong and consistent delivery across each business,with significant progress against its strategy in fiscal 2019. Adjusted earnings per share grew by 5 per cent; BMO also increased the declared dividend by 7 per cent,while extending the longest-running dividend payout record of any company in Canada at 191 years. Focusing on efficiency gains,BMO's progress has been steady with an above-average cumulative improvement of 410bps since 2015. 3-Year Total Shareholder Return of 8.6% beat the S&P /TSX Composite Index's return of 6.8%.

BMO is a leading bank driven by a single Purpose: to Boldly Grow the Good,in Business and Life. Last month,BMO was recognized by J.D. Power with the #1 ranking in the 2020 Canada Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study. The bank scored top marks in numerous categories directed at creating leading customer experiences,including: frequency of advice,relevance of advice,concern for customer needs,clarity of advice and quality of advice.

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 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies. BMO has been named to the index for three years in a row.

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

BMO was recently recognized by theCDP(formerly called the Carbon Disclosure Project) for its strong actions and transparency in the areas of climate change governance,climate change risk management,and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. BMO's A- score puts it in the Leadership band – an indication that the bank is implementing current best practices.

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,inNorth America. With total assets of$880 billionas ofJanuary 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 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