BMO Financial Group’s 2001 annual report has received the top ranking in the Annual Report on Annual Reports 2002.

The number one spot was awarded by enterprise.com, a European-based annual report consulting and evaluation service. Each year, enterprise.com publishes what it describes as the most comprehensive study and only global ranking of annual reports.

Of the 350 listed company reports from 32 countries that were scored and ranked, BMO’s report was judged to be the top ranked report. Seven European companies cracked the top ten, with Canada, the United States and Australia each placing one company in that select group.

The report cites BMO’s annual report “for the steady care shown in its reporting practices over the years,” and recommends that it serve as “a benchmark -not only in its industry but across the board.”

BMO’s annual report has made top 10 four times since the inception of enterprise.com’s study in 1996 and has been regularly singled out for key financial or operating report items.

“BMO Financial Group stands as 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 describing and explaining, ” said Mike Guillaume, Editor in Chief, Annual Report on Annual Reports, in a news release.

Company annual reports were assessed on the basis of five criteria: financial reporting; perations and segment reporting; executive statements, strategy and presentation; investor orientation and communications; and visuals, design and layout.

BMO ranked first for the quality of its Financial Reporting, second for Investor Orientation and Communications and first overall among the 350 annual reports judged.

BMO Financial Group’s 2001 Annual Report was produced by BMO’s Finance and Corporate Communications departments. The design firm was Toronto-based OVE Design & Communications.