News Releases

Harris Expand s Business Banking Services to Phoenix, Arizona

PHOENIX, December 21, 2006 – Harris is pleased to announce that it is enhancing its ability to serve businesses in the Phoenix area with the addition of its Business Banking services to this market.

Harris has been a part of the Arizona market for more than 30 years through its wealth management group, Harris Private Bank. Many of the Private Bank's clients also are business owners, making this a natural extension of the Harris organization's services.

"For business owners, having a coordinated approach to their personal and business financial management is a critical component to success," said Peter McNitt, Vice-Chair and Head of Business Banking, Harris. "We have served customers in our home market of Chicago in this way with great success and we look forward to bringing that same consistency and ease of access to the Phoenix-area business community."

George Leonard, an Arizona native with over 30 years of experience as an Arizona banker, is named Market Manager, Arizona, for Harris Business Banking. Leonard most recently was the Senior Credit Officer for Harris Private Bank in Arizona.

"Phoenix is a city that holds tremendous potential, with a five-year projected growth rate of close to 17 percent - making it among the fastest-growing U.S. cities," Leonard said. "With 80,000 businesses in the market, we believe there is a great opportunity to bring clients here a truly coordinated approach to financial management, taking advantage of the great history Harris has in both business banking and wealth management."

Leonard and his team will be located at the Harris office at 6720 North Scottsdale Road.

"We are thrilled that Harris has chosen the Phoenix market for its expanding business banking service," said Kris Kober, Managing Director, Harris Private Bank. "With the number of baby boomers retiring over the next 10 years, we will experience intense activity in the transfer of business ownership, and today's announcement positions us to help business owners through this transition and into the next phase of their lives."

About Harris
Harris is an integrated financial service organization providing more than 1 million personal, business and corporate clients with banking, lending, investing and wealth management solutions. The organization is a member of the BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), which also provides corporate and investment banking services in the U.S. under the BMO Capital Markets name.