Canada's Bank of Montreal (BMO) Capital Markets announced Thursday the addition of investment banking services to the range of financial products and services offered by BMO Financial Group in China.

 

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

 

"We consider this the next vital step to achieving our objective of becoming a most trusted adviser to Chinese business leaders," said Tony Comper, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group, in a press release.

 

The BMO Capital Markets Representative Office in Beijing will help offer a broad range of investment and corporate banking services to Chinese and North American institutional, corporate and government clients.

 

"We are exceptionally well-positioned to take advantage of China's enormous growth," said Yvan Bourdeau, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Capital Markets and Head, Investment Banking Group.

 

"We are recognized as a firm that can deliver globally and can help Chinese institutions, as witnessed by the role we played in the Bank of China IPO, China's largest IPO to date," said Bourdeau.

 

He said that BMO's long-standing presence in China certainly helped it secure a role as one of six co-lead managers, the only Canadian bank selected for that role, in the US$11.2 billion financing deal.

 

BMO became one of the first western banks to establish correspondent banking ties with the Bank of China in 1958. In 1996, BMO became the first Canadian bank to open a branch in Beijing.

 

BMO is a pioneer in the Chinese foreign exchange market that has consistently ranked among the top 10 banks in China (domestic and foreign) for the past 10 years.

 

With more than 2,000 employees, BMO Capital Markets operates in 14 North American offices and 26 locations worldwide.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2006)