Reporting is Not Just About Complying TONY CO MPER CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER BMO FINANCIAL GROUP ANNUAL REPORT 2002 3 Finally, let me point out that this year, for th e first time, I’ve passed  on the job of providing more strategic details to th e leaders who oversaw and created these details; their perspectives begi n on the following page. And what they will affirm, above all else is that BMO Financial Group now has a leadership team for its time, not merely skilf ully guiding our ship,  but giving it fresh momentum and purpose. This is another example of what helped this organization navigate through an especially unpleasant and frustrating year for our industry:  In addition to the proven soundness of our North American strategy, and the demonstration of proven strengths from credit risk management to  corporate governance, in 2002 we also had thousan ds of really fine people  rising to the occasion. There is not, nor can there b e, any substitute for that. As steward of this indeed rare company, I pl edge more of the same. And I can say this with confidence because I know I speak for my fellow directors and all my colleagues across the organiz ation who personally champion the openness and accountability that ha ve made us worthy of recognition and trust. The Annual Report on Annual Reports , published by a Europe-based global tracking company, named BMO’s 2001 annual re port simply  the best in  the world. One of the stated reasons was that we a re “one of those rare companies for which reporting is not just about complying and following the crowd or the way of the world. But also about adding value, giving insights, reviewing and highlighting and describi ng and explaining.” We face this challenge from a position of real , sustainable strength. In a year that featured a succession of high-profil e corporate debacles in the United States, withering the investments and tr ust of many Canadians and Americans and keeping the markets bounci ng down and up, BMO Financial Group once again cleanly emerged as a N orth American leader  in corporate governance. We were cited many tim es last year as one of the first and few companies to expense stock opti ons, for example  – and  as a  world leader in accountability and honest, tr ansparent disclosure.