Disnat, the online brokerage division of Desjardins Securities, is marking its 25th anniversary this year.

The first brokerage firm to offer discount brokerage services in Canada, in 1983, Disnat is proud of its achievements and looks to the future with optimism.

Disnat was founded in 1982, under the name Les Investissements Disnat inc. It first offered reduced commissions on trades of stocks or options listed on U.S. exchanges, where the industry had been deregulated since 1975.

Anticipating deregulation of commissions in Canada, Disnat took the lead and in 1983 became the very first firm in Canada to offer discount brokerage services for securities traded on Canadian markets, following the abolition of fixed-rate commissions in Quebec and Ontario.

In 1988, the firm joined Desjardins Group. The combination of Disnat and the Desjardins caisses populaires was a good fit and enabled Desjardins Group to broaden its scope of activities.

Initially the discount brokerage arm of Desjardins Group, Disnat became a division of Desjardins Securities when the latter was founded in 1991, providing Desjardins with both a full-service brokerage division and a discount brokerage division.

In January 1998, Disnat established a brand new Web site: disnat.com.

n 2003, Disnat launched DisnatDirect, the first direct access brokerage service for active investors offered by a financial institution in Canada. With direct access brokerage, clients can trade directly on stock markets and ECNs. Using an ultrapowerful computer system, orders are sent instantaneously to the market selected by the client, who also benefits from dynamic real-time monitoring of market activity.

“In addition to responding to clients’ needs, Disnat has constantly improved its service offering by innovating and by anticipating the development of the online brokerage industry,” says Frédéric Paquette, vp of Disnat Online Brokerage.