In light of the recent news of TD Bank, one of Canada’s largest financial institutions, coming under intense scrutiny and oversight by regulators and the U.S. Department of Justice for its failure to prevent and detect a major money laundering illicit drug scheme through its U.S. branch operation, it is important to also highlight a successful Canadian financial institution which is showing leadership on its approach to preventing and detecting money laundering to protect its members and clients.
The Desjardins Group is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions in North America. Testimony to its success is its 7.7 million members with many of them living in Quebec where the company began in 1900. It has assets of just under $423 billion.
Desjardins takes money laundering seriously with the appointment of a Chief Anti-Money Laundering Officer. This critical job function is responsible for ensuring sound management of risks associated with money laundering, terrorist financing and international economic sanctions. The organization’s program, policies, procedures and training are regularly adjusted, to reflect regulatory changes. These measures help detect and report transactions related to money laundering and terrorist financing.
The following paragraphs which specifically focus on anti-money laundering can be found at Desjardins website under Compliance.
As a cooperative, Desjardins ensures that the protection of its members is at the heart of its actions. Given that the International Monetary Fund estimates that the proceeds of crime represent up to 5% of global GDP, Desjardins believes that the financial sector must be engaged in this ongoing global battle. As such, Desjardins plays its own role in ensuring the security of Canadian and international financial systems and takes measures to detect money laundering and terrorist financing activities, as well as any other financial crime.
In order to protect its members, Desjardins has implemented a robust company-wide program aimed at detecting and preventing financial crimes. A large team of experts works with all business sectors throughout Desjardins Group to ensure that all activities are carried out in a manner that reflects its commitment to the fight against financial crime.
The program has been developed to fully comply with Canadian anti-money laundering regulations, as well as all other applicable financial crime laws.
As part of its program, Desjardins Group has put in place robust processes, in particular:
- An assessment of the inherent and residual risks of money laundering and terrorist financing as they relate to Desjardins’ customers, products, and services
- Record keeping in accordance with applicable laws and regulations
- Due diligence controls
- Monitoring of unusual activity
- Reporting as required by applicable laws and regulations
- A mandatory ongoing training program for Desjardins employees
- Program supervision by the Chief Anti-Money Laundering Officer and their team
- Periodic reporting to the Senior Management Committee and the Board of Directors
- Independent evaluation of the program’s effectiveness
In this sub-heading under Compliance of Anti-Money Laundering it also includes a link to Desjardins completion of the very comprehensive and thorough Wolfsberg Questionnaire (PDF, 1.55 MB) The Wolfsberg questionnaire is named after the Wolfsberg Group which is an association of global banks. It is a crucial tool for financial institutions to ensure they have robust AML and CTF controls in place, comply with regulatory requirements, and foster trust and transparency in their operations.
Governance is another key aspect of keeping on top of its efforts to prevent and detect money laundering. As Desjardins states, “Our top priority is working for people who have chosen us to protect their health and financial security. We believe it is our responsibility to ensure wise and prudent risk management, which is overseen through:
- Our governance program, which details the responsibilities of our Board of Directors and various committees
- Our Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct”
Well entrenched in Desjardins financial operation and worth noting is security. You can click on the self-explanatory title of this linked 11-page document here, Security is everyone’s responsibility While it goes beyond fraud prevention and financial crime prevention to cover other key vulnerabilities such as protecting data and personal information, it makes training of all employees and managers mandatory.
Coupled with security as a core responsibility of everyone, Desjardins has also set out a strong set of values which it shares with cooperatives around the world. “Fundamental cooperative values speak to self-help, self-responsibility, and responsibility to others. Cooperative members respect ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.”
Another value is Integrity and Rigour. As it says, “We are committed to doing everything we can to earn and maintain the trust of our members, clients and partners, for the common good. This responsibility requires us to demonstrate honesty, objectivity, competence and transparency, and to comply with all regulations and guidelines governing us, as well as with sound business and management practices.”
At Desjardins annual general meeting held earlier this year, the well-respected President and CEO Guy Cormier gave an inspiring speech. It garnered a standing ovation at the end of his passionate and heartfelt delivery. These following excerpts made in English stand out as reflective of his commitment to uphold the financial institution’s values and unwavering commitment to serving its members and clients.
“In short, we’re there for you, our members, our clients. No matter where you are. We truly want to get to know our members and clients. We want to listen to what they have to say. And we want to give you personalized support and meet your unique needs.”
We need more financial institutions like Desjardins to look out for their members and clients so the chances of fraud successfully happening are prevented and substantially reduced.
