Bank of Montreal is expanding its presence south of the border, acquiring Chicago-based discount broker Burke Christensen & Lewis Securities Inc. for $66 million.

Tony Comper, chairman and chief executive, of BMO, said the acquisition expands the bank's brokerage activity in the U.S., where it currently operates through its Chicago-based Harris Bank subsidiary.

The new company, to be known as Harris/BCL-Investors Direct, will be part of Bank of Montreal's Private Client Group.

"BCL will join our Harris Investors Direct discount brokerage, giving us nearly 45,000 U.S. brokerage clients and bringing our total number of retail customers in the United States to almost one million," said Comper.

"Harris/BCL-Investors Direct will work side by side with its Canadian counterpart, Bank of Montreal's InvestorLine, as an important component in our North American growth strategy."

The private client group brings together all of the bank's wealth management services. That includes retail investment products, discount and full service brokerages, private banking and institutional money management.