DBRS Assigns Provisional Rating of A (low), Stable, to BMO’s Non-Viability Contingent Capital Subordinated Debt

DBRS has today assigned a provisional rating of A (low) with a Stable trend to the Bank of Montreal’s (the Bank or BMO) Series H Medium Term-Notes (Subordinated Indebtedness) (NVCC Sub Debt Series H or Series H).

DBRS assigned the NVCC Sub Debt Series H a rating equal to the Bank’s intrinsic assessment, less three rating notches, because Series H has only the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)-required non-viable contingent capital (NVCC) triggers and no additional triggers. Furthermore, in the event of a conversion to common shares, NVCC Sub Debt Series H has a potential for recovery which is sufficiently better than BMO’s existing NVCC Preferred Shares to allow for a differentiation in the Series H rating relative to the NVCC Preferred Shares rating. Please see the DBRS press release entitled “DBRS Provides Guidance on Canadian Bank Non-Viability Contingent Capital Ratings” dated January 10, 2014, for more details.

The rating is consistent with “DBRS Criteria: Rating Bank Capital Securities – Subordinated, Hybrid, Preferred & Contingent Capital Securities.”

Notes:
The related regulatory disclosures pursuant to the National Instrument 25-101 Designated Rating Organizations are hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link to the right under Related Research or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

The applicable methodology is DBRS Criteria: Rating Bank Capital Securities – Subordinated, Hybrid, Preferred & Contingent Capital Securities, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.