Finance Montreal and the International Financial Centre of Montreal (IFC Montreal) have merged under the name of Finance Montreal, the organizations announced on Wednesday.
The merger is an acknowledgement that the organizations, which work to further develop and promote Montreal’s standing as an international financial hub, have been working closely for the last three years and have already shared human and material resources. It is also a response to a request made by the Quebec government in its budget presented in March that Finance Montreal continue the activities of IFC Montreal.
“Today we reach an important milestone by completing the legal and administrative merger of Finance Montreal and IFC Montreal,” says Claude Séguin, chairman of the board of Finance Montreal, in a statement. “Members of both organizations have recognized the advantages associated with the merger. Grouping our forces is logical and will facilitate reaching our objectives of developing and promoting Montreal and Quebec’s financial services industry.”
Finance Montreal reports that job losses directly related to the merger are not anticipated and that Mario Albert will continue to act as CEO of Finance Montreal.
“The board reiterates its full confidence in Mr. Albert and in all the Finance Montreal team to maximize potential synergies arising from the merger and to execute the strategy to develop and promote Quebec’s financial services industry,” says Séguin.
Finance Montreal was created in 2010 and has 23 governor members, 14 associate members and close to 300 volunteer professionals. Its board of governors includes executives from the National Bank of Canada, Desjardins Group and Power Financial Corp.