(April 12 – 15:15 ET) – Henri-Paul Rousseau, president and CEO of Laurentian Bank of Canada told shareholders at the bank’s annual meeting today that Laurentian has successfully completed the first phase of its strategy to reinvent the role of the banker.


“The strategy has enabled us to create value for our shareholders by developing market niches in unique ways in an extremely competitive environment and by maintaining a very high level of customer satisfaction,” Rousseau said.


Laurentian Bank’s strategy is underpinned by five objectives that focus on implementing state-of-the-art technology, growing its business lines and eventually moving toward a holding company structure.


Rousseau detailed how the first objective — to implement leading-edge technology –makes it possible for the bank to play the double role of wholesale banker and retail banker. According to the bank, this provides economies of scale that result from a larger critical mass.


Laurentian says technology has also enhanced the bank’s ability to develop value-added products tailored to clients’ needs, be they banking and financial packages or dedicated Web sites. In a recent study of the sites of thirteen financial institutions, Gomez, a North American Internet measurement firm, ranked Laurentian Bank’s Web site the third best banking site in Canada. It also awarded the bank first place in the One-Stop Shopper and Saver categories, second place in the Internet Transactor category and third place in the Borrower category.


Rousseau also noted that the impending reform of the financial services provides for the formation of holding companies in the financial services sector and implements new consumer protection provisions and ownership rules.


“With the option of moving toward a holding company structure, Laurentian Bank will have the desired flexibility to organize itself according to its growth strategy while more effectively serving its clients,” said Rousseau. “We are convinced that this reform will prove to be a excellent tool for creating value for all parties involved in the bank’s growth.”