June 14, 2013

Montréal - The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has published the 2012 report on financial services cooperatives (in French only) tabled today in the Québec National Assembly. The report presents the portrait of financial services cooperatives carrying on business in Québec, the changes they have undergone, their role in Québec's economy and their financial condition.

At the end of 2012, there were 380 financial services cooperatives carrying on business in Québec. With the exception of the Caisse des Mutuellistes, all cooperatives were members of a single federation, the Fédération des Caisses Desjardins du Québec.

As in recent years, the number of financial services cooperatives declined, allowing credit unions that are larger, in terms of assets, to emerge and grow. This change was due, in particular, to the merger of financial services cooperatives that are members of the Fédération des Caisses Desjardins du Québec.

Financial services cooperatives continued to have a significant share of the market in Québec, including with respect to hypothecary (or mortgage) loans and personal deposits in Québec, where they ranked first when compared with Canadian and foreign banks.

The financial statements of financial services cooperatives once again showed a good level of profitability, notwithstanding a decline during the 2012 fiscal year. Moreover, financial services cooperatives posted high quality capitalization and continued to satisfy the capital ratios set forth in the Basel II accord.

The AMF regulates financial services cooperatives, in particular, by issuing, updating and overseeing the application of its guidelines. The AMF adapts the regulation of the institutions it oversees to the new rules which were introduced by the Basel III accords and came into effect in January 2013. In this regard, the guidelines published by the AMF are available by clicking on the Guidelines tab under the Deposit Institutions menu.

For more information about financial services cooperatives in Québec, please consult the 2012 report on financial services cooperatives (pdf - 694 KB)This link will open in a new windowUpdated on June 14, 2013.

The Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF") is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial sector.

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