Bank of Montreal - Trading Statement

RNS No 0981n
BANK OF MONTREAL
16th September 1998


Bank of Montreal Reports Trading Results for 4th Quarter To Date

TORONTO, September 16, 1998 - Bank of Montreal announced today that for the
fourth quarter to date it has incurred net trading losses of approximately $80
million after tax.  These losses were a result of recent volatility in global
financial markets and a contraction of liquidity in corporate debt markets.  In
the first three quarters of the current year, net trading revenue of $167
million after tax was earned.

The trading losses occurred primarily in the Bank's North American corporate
debt securities portfolios which, on a marked to market basis, are currently
valued at approximately $600 million (Canadian).

Bank of Montreal reported net income of $1.116 billion through the first nine
months of the year and had total assets of $229.3 billion as at July 31, 1998.

Bank of Montreal, Canada's first bank, is a highly diversified financial
services institution.  The Bank's group of companies include Nesbitt Burns, one
of Canada's largest full-service investment firms, Chicago-based Harris Bank, a
major U.S. mid-west financial institution, and mbanx, the first North
American-wide virtual banking unit.  Bank of Montreal has an equity position in,
and an alliance with, Grupo Financiero Bancomer, a leading Mexican financial
institution.

Media Relations Contacts:                      Investor Relations Contact:

Lynne Kilpatrick, Toronto, [phone]      David Brennan, [phone]
Lucie Gosselin, Montreal,  [phone]

Internet:  http://www.bmo.com 


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