Department of Treasury Awards M&I Bank $40 Million New Markets Tax Credit Allocation

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- M&I Bank (M&I) announced today that it received a $40 million allocation of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) authority in the latest round of awards from the Department of Treasury.

The federal government's New Markets Tax Credit program will enable M&I to offer below-market interest rates and less expensive loans for the development of office, industrial, retail, residential, and community facilities in Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Missouri.

"M&I is pleased to have been awarded $40 million in New Markets Tax Credit," said Vincent Lyles, president, M&I Community Development Corporation. "Funding of this kind plays a critical role in our ability to assist individuals and businesses in low-income communities. Specifically, these funds will be used to promote job creation in markets served by M&I Bank."

In 2006, M&I was a recipient of a NMTC allocation and successfully deployed $75 million in tax credits in 2007 throughout M&I's markets. The NMTC 2007 deployment resulted in M&I underwriting 29 loans.

Created by Congress in 2000, NMTC is a federal tax program designed to help spur investment in businesses located in lower-income communities. Investors in the program's Community Development Entities will receive a credit against their federal income taxes over the seven-year period.

M&I Bank is an affiliate of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI), a diversified financial services corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., with $58.5 billion in assets. Founded in 1847, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank is the largest Wisconsin-based bank, with 193 offices throughout the state. In addition, M&I has 53 locations throughout Arizona; 32 offices in Indianapolis and nearby communities; 36 offices along Florida's west coast and in central Florida; 16 offices in Kansas City and nearby communities; 26 offices in metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul, and one in Duluth, Minn.; and one office in Las Vegas, Nev. M&I's Southwest Bank subsidiary has 17 offices in the greater St. Louis area. M&I also provides trust and investment management, equipment leasing, mortgage banking, asset-based lending, financial planning, investments, and insurance services from offices throughout the country and on the Internet (www.mibank.com or www.micorp.com). M&I's customer-based approach, internal growth, and strategic acquisitions have made M&I a nationally recognized leader in the financial services industry.