In a special meeting held Saturday in Quebec City, 256 representatives of Desjardins Group from across Québec and from Ontario came together to elect Monique Leroux, currently senior executive vp and CFO of Desjardins Group, to the office of president and CEO.

She will succeed Alban D’Amours, who has held this position since March 25, 2000.

Leroux will officially take office for a four-year mandate following Desjardins Group’s annual general meeting, which will be held on March 29 in Quebec City.

“I am thrilled and, above all, honoured to be following in the footsteps of a man who has left a lasting impression on the destiny of this leading Group of ours,” Leroux said in a release.

Leroux has served as CFO of Desjardins Group since August 2004. In this capacity, she sits on the Strategic Management Structure Committee of Desjardins Group and is mainly responsible for establishing the financial framework for the entire Group, the setting and tracking of performance management, as well as the capital structure of Desjardins Group. She is also an observer on the board of directors of the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, as well as a delegate to all subsidiary boards of Desjardins Group.

Prior to this appointment, Leroux served as president of Desjardins Financial Corp. and CEO of its subsidiaries, including Desjardins Financial Security (life and health insurance), Desjardins General Insurance Group (property and casualty insurance), Desjardins Specialized Financial Services Management (trust services and investment funds), as well as Desjardins Asset Management, where she also served as director.

Leroux has been named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network of Toronto, as well as one of Canada’s Top 25 Women to Watch in 2008 by the Women’s Post. She sits on the board of directors of the Société des alcools du Québec, Fiera Capital, Siparex Group (Europe), HEC Montréal, the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. She was also president of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec and served on the board of governors of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.