M&I Bank Issues Response to Letter From Wisconsin Union Group Threatening to Boycott M&I

MILWAUKEE, March 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- M&I Bank (M&I) today issued the following statement in response to a letter it received from a union group threatening to boycott M&I if M&I does not publicly oppose Governor Walker's budget repair bill.

M&I has not taken, and will not take, a position either for or against the budget repair bill. As M&I has publicly stated before:

• M&I has not contributed to any candidate and did not contribute to Governor Walker or Mayor Barrett in the last gubernatorial election.
• M&I has over 6,000 employees in Wisconsin, and, in the great tradition of political freedom in this country, those employees have the right to contribute to the candidate of their choice.
• M&I employees contributed to both Wisconsin gubernatorial candidates in the last election.

M&I is proud of our tradition of standing with teachers, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, and other dedicated public employees to support, improve, and grow Wisconsin communities. M&I has 188 branches in cities, towns, and villages throughout Wisconsin, and M&I employees work side-by-side with these dedicated public employees in civic endeavors across the state.

M&I Bank is an affiliate of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI), a diversified financial services corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., with $51.9 billion in assets. Founded in 1847, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank is the largest Wisconsin-based bank, with 188 offices throughout the state. In addition, M&I has 53 locations throughout Arizona; 36 offices along Florida's west coast and in central Florida; 33 offices in Indianapolis and nearby communities; 26 offices in metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul, and one in Duluth, Minn.; 17 offices in the greater St. Louis area; 15 offices in Kansas City and nearby communities; and one office in Las Vegas, Nev. M&I also provides trust and investment management, equipment leasing, mortgage banking, asset-based lending, financial planning, investments, and insurance services from offices throughout the country and on the Internet (www.mibank.com or www.micorp.com).

SOURCE Marshall & Ilsley Corporation

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