Mr. John Fenton reports

BANK OF MONTREAL RECEIVES REGULATORY APPROVALS FOR NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID

Bank of Montreal has received approvals from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) to proceed with its previously announced normal course issuer bid to purchase, for cancellation, up to 20 million of its common shares, commencing Jan. 22, 2025, and ending no later than Jan. 21, 2026. Purchases under the bid may be made through the facilities of the TSX and may also be made through other designated exchanges and alternative Canadian trading systems or by such other means as may be permitted by a securities regulatory authority, including under automatic purchase plans, block purchases, private agreements or share repurchase programs under exemption orders issued by securities regulatory authorities.

The maximum number of common shares that may be repurchased under the normal course issuer bid represents approximately 2.7 per cent of the bank's public float (as such term is defined in the TSX Company Manual) of common shares.

The bank established an automatic securities purchase plan on Jan. 9, 2025, under which its broker, BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., may at certain points in time purchase its common shares pursuant to the bid within a defined set of criteria. The actual number of common shares purchased under the bid, the timing of purchases and the price at which the common shares are bought will depend upon management discretion based on factors such as market conditions and capital adequacy. The purchase price for any common shares repurchased by the bank under the bid will be market price at the time of acquisition.

There were 729,953,297 Bank of Montreal common shares issued and outstanding as at Jan. 6, 2025, and the public float was 729,689,561 common shares. The average daily trading volume for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2024, and the daily maximum number of common shares available for purchase, calculated pursuant to the rules of the TSX for the purposes of the bid, were 3,072,276 and 768,069 common shares, respectively.

About Bank of Montreal

BMO Financial Group is the eighth-largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of $1.41-trillion as of Oct. 31, 2024. Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets, and investment banking products and services to 13 million customers across Canada, the United States and in select markets globally. Driven by a single purpose, to boldly grow the good in business and life, BMO is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future and inclusive society.