Laurentian Bank of Canada
the Laurentian Bank of Canada dates back to 1846 with the founding of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank -Banque d?Epargne, by Monseigneur Ignace Bourget, and a group of 15 prominent individuals from Montreal. The Bank?s 60 Honorary Directors included Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Louis-Joseph Papineau and Georges-Étienne Cartier.
The institution was created to provide the working class with a means for saving. The Bank accepted all deposits between one shilling and 500 pounds sterling, and at the end of its first fiscal year, the Montreal City and District Savings Bank managed over 500 active accounts and held total deposits of £29,350.
In 1972, it became the first chartered bank in Canada to link all its branches to a central computer. This connection enabled the Bank to process savings account transactions, personal loan files and term deposits "on-line."
Legislative revisions in 1975 allowed the Bank to open a branch in Granby, Quebec ? its first branch outside the region of Montreal. In 1980, the Montreal City and District Savings Bank obtained the right to expand its operations throughout Canada. This expansion led to the institution listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange three years later. And in 1987, the Bank was renamed Laurentian Bank of Canada.
The Bank merged with Eaton Trust Company (in 1988), purchased Standard Trust assets (1991), acquired La Financière Coopérants Prêts-Épargne Inc., and Guardian Trust Company in Ontario (1992), acquired General Trust Corporation in Ontario, and purchased of Société Nationale de Fiducie assets and the brokerage firm BLC Rousseau (1993).
In 1993, the Desjardins-Laurentian Financial Corporation became the new majority shareholder of Laurentian Bank of Canada, following the merging of the Laurentian Group Corporation with the Mouvement Desjardins. The Bank purchased the Manulife Bank of Canada?s banking service network and the assets of Prenor Trust Company of Canada between 1994 and 1996.
In 1995, the Bank acquired 30 branches of the North American Trust Company.
In 1996, one of its subsidiaries acquired the parent corporation of Trust Prêt et Revenu du Canada. A few months later, the withdrawal of its main shareholder ? Desjardins-Laurentian Financial Corporation ? prompted the Laurentian Bank to become a Schedule I Bank under the Bank Act, on a par with all the other large Canadian banks.
See also: List of Canadian banks
