Jean-Pierre De Montigny, president and chief operating officer of Desjardins Securities, resigned from the company Wednesday for what the company said were personal reasons.

The Lévis, Que.-based company said Yves Néron, currently senior vice president and head of the onlinebrokerage division of Desjardins Securities, will be interim managing director of the firm.

“We understand the personal reasons that motivate Mr. De Montigny and we accept his resignation with regret,” Alban D’Amours, Desjardins Group president and CEO, said in a release. “We will remember him as a capable, professional man, with a strong entrepreneurial sense. He made a major contribution to the success of Desjardins Securities, and on behalf of all of us at Desjardins, we sincerely thank him. We will of course actively pursue the development of our brokerage firm to make it a leading player in Québec and across Canada, where it’s continually growing.”

Since being named president and CEOed office in June 2001, De Montigny has been key to the accelerated development of Desjardins Securities and established a brokerage firm “that is carving out an ever-increasing place for itself in a highly competitive market,” the company said.