BMO Financial Group 2016 Environmental, Social and

TORONTO, ONTARIO and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--(Marketwired - Feb. 1, 2017) - BMO Financial Group has published its 2016 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report and Public Accountability Statement (PAS).

The report outlines the ESG issues that matter most to BMO's customers, stakeholders and business. The report also includes the Public Accountability Statements for Bank of Montreal, Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corporation and BMO Trust Company.

"Creating a sustainable business requires resilience," said Simon Fish, General Counsel for BMO Financial Group and Chair of BMO's Sustainability Council. "It means meeting the needs of the present without losing sight of how to meet the needs of future generations. People want to build relationships with companies that operate responsibly and are going to be around for the long term."

Download the 2016 ESG Report and PAS here .

BMO's achievements in 2016 include:

• Creating the BMO Fossil Fuel Free Fund, which aims to provide long-term growth of capital by investing in a globally diversified portfolio of equity securities that excludes companies primarily involved in extracting and refining fossil fuels
• Providing more than US$652.9 million in community development loans to support economic development, community service and quality affordable housing in the United States
• Launching an impact investing mutual fund focused on gender diversity - the BMO Women in Leadership Fund
• Raising approximately $2.4 billion of equity and debt in the capital markets for entities active in renewable energy power generation in North America in fiscal 2016: Contributing more than $57 million in donations to non-profit organizations across North America
• Maintaining Carbon Neutrality across the enterprise since 2010

BMO was recently recognized with the 2017 Catalyst Award and is listed among the 2017 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and Corporate Knight's Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada (2016). BMO is also listed on several key sustainability indices, including: Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index, Jantzi Social Index, and FTSE4Good Series Index.

BMO's Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report complements the ESG Report/PAS and includes a collection of stories about our relationships with our customers and the communities where we operate.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, and currently marking its 200th year of operations, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $688 billion as of October 31, 2016, and more than 45,000 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, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.