Bank of Montreal today confirmed that, despite the downgrade of the ratings of the notes of Apex Trust and Sitka Trust by DBRS yesterday, discussions regarding the restructuring of the two trusts are continuing.

BMO also confirmed that a cure period of two business days is available after a notice of default has been given by the indenture trustee to the trusts with respect to the inability of the trusts to roll their notes.

BMO said that while discussions about the restructuring of the trusts continue, it cannot predict the outcome of such discussions. “The outcome of these discussions will not impact BMO’s emphasis on moving its businesses forward through a clear focus on customers and performance management,” the bank said in a news release.

BMO previously disclosed that if efforts to restructure the trusts were not successful, it would write down its remaining investment in the trusts.

“BMO is not and has never been the backup liquidity provider to the Trusts,” the bank said.

In addition, BMO noted that these developments have no impact on the ratings of or BMO’s support for the BMO-sponsored conduits to which BMO provides global style liquidity.

BMO also noted that there is risk of litigation should the trusts not successfully be restructured. One noteholder to the trust is disputing the return of a payment made to it in error and a swap counterparty is disputing its obligations under an agreement and with respect to a total return swap transaction it had previously confirmed.

“It is not possible to determine the amount or probability of losses, if any, at this time,” the bank said.

The banks is scheduled to release its first-quarter results on Tuesday, March 4.