Director, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary
François Cholette studied Law at Université Laval and was called to the Québec Bar in 1987. He received the Bar’s medal for having maintained the highest general average at l’École du Barreau in 1986-1987.
He started his career as a litigation lawyer for six years in private practice in the Québec region. He joined the Desjardins Group in 1993 where he currently is Senior manager of Legal Affairs for Wealth Management and Life and Health Insurance. He is also Corporate Secretary for Desjardins Financial Security, Life Assurance Company, and many of its subsidiaries.
He leads a team of 40 people consisting of lawyers, paralegals, and support staff.
His team’s responsibilities at Legal Affairs include:
- Legal opinion services in life and health insurance, pension plans, fiduciary products, securities, asset management and investment;
- Contract drafting and commercial transaction negotiations;
- Participating in government relations files with the governments and regulatory bodies;
- Legislative and regulatory watch;
- Corporate secretariat, including board and committee governance, as well as maintaining insurer and distributor permits;
- Governance of regulatory guidelines which establish the framework of the Desjardins Group activities (Bylaws, Standards, Policies, Directives, Guides and Rules).