BMO CAPITAL MARKETS OPENS INVESTMENT BANKING OFFICE IN BEIJING.

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BEIJING, Nov 1 /CNW-AsiaNet/ - BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO), today officially opened its Investment Banking Representative Office in Beijing. The new office complements the suite of financial services that BMO Financial Group offers in China and enhances BMO's growing presence and profile amongst China's capital markets participants.

"Our new representative office will allow us to keep close contact with China's capital markets participants," said Yvan Bourdeau, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Capital Markets. "We have participated in a number of quite substantial capital-raising transactions here recently. This new office, liaising with and working through parent company BMO Financial Group's professional teams in North America, will further strengthen our ability to help our Chinese and North American clients with equity capital markets services, as well as mergers and acquisitions advisory services."

Attending the opening were a number of Chinese government and regulatory officials, Canadian embassy officials, Chinese business leaders and a group of North American and European institutional investors, whose week-long tour of China culminates tomorrow in Beijing. The tour, organized by BMO Capital Markets for its institutional investor clients, provides them with an opportunity to meet government and regulatory officials, public and private company executives, securities and advisory services providers and to visit rapidly-emerging economic development zones and other industrial sites in Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing.

"Our long-standing relationships will allow us to bring together leading Chinese decision-makers and entrepreneurs with interested investors from abroad," said Mr. Bourdeau. "With the support of our corporate finance experts in Canada and the United States, we are well-equipped to continue to serve this country's growing capital markets."

BMO Capital Markets' Investment Banking Representative Office in Beijing increases BMO's capacity in the Chinese cities in which it operates, which also include Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

"We will help BMO Capital Markets offer a broad range of investment and corporate banking services to Chinese and North American institutional, corporate and government clients," said Tony Choy, Managing Director and Chief Representative of the Investment Banking Representative Office. "As well, with our new representative office, BMO Capital Markets will be better positioned to help Chinese ...