The Desjardins Group (, ) is a Canadian financial service

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

and the largest federation of

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

s () in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

by Alphonse Desjardins. While its legal headquarters remains in Lévis, most of the executive management, including the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, is based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. As of 2017, Desjardins Group consists of 293 local credit unions operating 1,032 points of service and serving more than seven million members and clients, mostly in the provinces of

and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Desjardins Group also operates the services of the former Canadian division of

State Farm State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property and casualty insurance, property, casualty and auto i ...

which was then acquired in 2015. In addition to

retail banking Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking (corporate ...

, the Group has over twenty subsidiaries offering products and services related to

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

( Desjardins Financial Security, Desjardins General Insurance), real estate (with its

Complexe Desjardins Complexe Desjardins is a mixed-use office, hotel, and shopping mall complex located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the Quartier des spectacles area of Saint Catherine Street.brokerage A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neith ...

(Desjardins Securities). The Desjardins Group, through subsidiary Développement international Desjardins, is also active in over 30 developing countries through technical assistance programs and various investments. In October 2020, Desjardins launched a social impact fund, Aequitas, which could grow to 115 million dollars and help women and youth in developing countries.

History

After studying European credit institutions established in the 19th century, Alphonse Desjardins in 1901 came up with an original solution adapted to North America. In the late 1990s, the number of ''caisses'' was reduced from 1275 to 800. Between 2008 and 2010, total assets at Desjardins Group grew over 15% from

Can$ The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...

151.9 billion (when it ranked sixth in Canada and first in Quebec among

financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...

s ahead of the

National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada () is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the largest bank in Quebec, and the se ...

) to over $175 billion in 2010. In 2006, it had 6,500 elected and volunteer officers and employed over 40,000 people and gave its members $483 million in patronage allocations and $64 million in donations, sponsorships and academic scholarships. Most of the latter sum was used on regional economic development and health programs as well. In that same year, in March 2008, the election of Monique Leroux at the head of the group marked the history of Canada by becoming "Canada's largest company headed by a woman". In December 2010, it acquired the 121 offices and 500,000 customers of Western Financial for $443 million, giving it a presence in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. In 2003, Desjardins bought the former Province of Ontario Savings Office, which it branded ''Desjardins Credit Union'' and operated until 2011. This institution was then merged into Meridian Credit Union. (The similarly named Desjardins Ontario Credit Union, formed 1 January 2020 with the merger of 11 Ontario Desjardins-affiliated credit unions and their federation into one, is not the same entity and continues as a going concern.) In 2014, Desjardins Group acquired the Canadian operations of U.S.-based insurance giant

. The policies were transferred to be underwritten by Desjardins Insurance on January 1, 2015. The State Farm brand continued to be used for agents and marketing until 2018. On January 3, 2017, Desjardins Group announced the closing of the sale of its pet health insurance company, Western Financial Insurance Company to Economical Mutual Insurance Company. Western Financial Insurance Company and its flagship brand, Petsecure were purchased in 2011 as part of the Western Financial Group deal. On July 5, 2017, Trimont Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, announced the completion of its purchase of the remainder of Western Financial Group from Desjardins Group for $775 million. Included in the sale were Western Financial Group's Brokerage Network, Western Financial Group Insurance Solutions, and Western Life Assurance. In 2018, State Farm Canada was officially rebranded to Desjardins Insurance through Desjardins Insurance Agents. The whole transition was to be completed by the end of 2019.

2019 data breach

On June 20, 2019, Desjardins Group reported a

data breach A data breach, also known as data leakage, is "the unauthorized exposure, disclosure, or loss of personal information". Attackers have a variety of motives, from financial gain to political activism, political repression, and espionage. There ...

involving personal data of 4.3 million individual users and 173,000 businesses, more than 40% of Quebec-based credit union's clients and members. The security breach, detected in December 2018, was not linked to a direct cyberattack, but the result of a disgruntled corporate employee. The data leaked was assembled over a certain period of time after unauthorized access to banking systems and copied customer data. Police investigation is still ongoing.

Credit agency ratings

As of December 2018, Desjardins long-term debt is rated Aa2 by

Moody's Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

, A+ by S&P, AA by

DBRS Morningstar DBRS is a global credit rating agency with offices in Toronto, New York, Chicago, London, Frankfurt and Madrid. Morningstar DBRS provides independent credit rating services for financial institutions, corporate and sovereign entitie ...

, and AA− by Fitch. S&P and Fitch considered the company's outlook "stable," while Moody's and DBRS rated it "negative."

References

External links

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Quick Facts about Desjardins

Branch Locator

Développement international Desjardins (DID)
{{Authority control Banks established in 1900 Canadian companies established in 1900 Companies based in Lévis, Quebec Cooperative federations Credit unions of Canada Canadian brands Mortgage lenders of Canada 1900 establishments in Quebec

History

2019 data breach

Credit agency ratings

See also

References

External links