Monique F. Leroux Becomes First Woman Elected as President and CEO of Desjardins Group

Québec City, March 15, 2008 – In a Special Meeting held today in Québec City, 256 representatives of Desjardins Group from across Québec and from Ontario came together to elect Ms. Monique F. Leroux, currently Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Desjardins Group, to the office of President and CEO of Desjardins Group with a first four-year mandate. She will succeed Mr. Alban D'Amours, who has held this position since March 25, 2000.

Ms. Leroux will officially take office following Desjardins Group's Annual General Meeting, which will be held on March 29 in Québec City.

"I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to the voters who have put their trust in me, and I congratulate all the candidates who participated in this democratic process that will contribute to the advancement of our Group," stated Ms. Leroux. "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."

Ms. Leroux has served as Chief Financial Officer 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, Ms. Leroux served as President of Desjardins Financial Corporation and Chief Executive Officer 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.

Ms. 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.

About Desjardins

The largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada, with global assets of over $144 billion as at December 31, 2007, Desjardins Group consists of a network of caisses, branches, credit unions and business centres in Québec and Ontario, as well as some twenty subsidiaries in life and general insurance, securities brokerage, venture capital, and asset management, many of which are active nationwide. With the skills of its 40,000 employees and the commitment of more than 6,500 elected officers, Desjardins offers its 5.8 million members and clients–individuals and businesses alike–a full range of financial products and services. Its physical distribution network is rounded out by virtual access methods supported by leading-edge technology.

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