The recently announced end of the partnership with the National Bank surprised more than a few of you and the nearly one hundred people who wrote to us are the proof. Finding a new partner and negotiating the best possible offer for all engineers as a group is our priority. Many questions have been raised and we hope to provide you with the most thorough information possible in order to give you a comprehensive view of the complex issues in this situation.

Approximately five years ago, we noted certain changes in the business model of the National Bank. We specifically noticed that many of its partner associations were gradually leaving. That said, after renewing its partnership agreement with us in 2006, which was valid until 2011, RéseauIQ would have never suspected that the Bank would then end the partnership right in the middle of the contract. This abrupt end is not due to any additional demands made by us. We believe that it may have been accelerated by external factors such as the financial and economic crisis that ensued or the demands of internal management.

The Bank’s actions lead us to believe that it still considers engineers an excellent clientele but no longer wishes to limit itself to just the permit holders, who represent only about 50% of engineering graduates. As its clients noticed in the letter sent to them on the day after the agreement ended, the Bank had already made its decision even though it continued its talks with us until March.

As for RéseauIQ, we immediately began approaching a number of potential partners in the fall of 2008 with the assistance of financial experts. An agreement of such scope (+65,000 clients) can sometimes take more than a year of negotiation, and these discussions must of course remain confidential. Nevertheless, we can tell you that the current negotiations are going very well. We will inform you immediately of the brand new partnership agreement once we have signed it.

We understand of course the inconvenience caused by this situation and kindly ask you for your patience in these circumstances. The Bank has indicated that this change would have no impact on its clients. The improvements announced were based on the suggestions you had made to us, which we forwarded to the Bank. Thus, application criteria are now at the discretion of the Bank.

Furthermore, we are fully aware that changing financial institutions is not a quick and easy task. That is why we spared no effort in trying to keep the partnership with the National Bank and are also taking great care to ensure that a high-quality agreement is signed with a new partner in your best interest. In fact, we informed you immediately after the end of our agreement so that you would have a chance to prepare yourself. Please keep in mind that the end of this agreement does not at all affect the Férique Fund. 

As for the finances of RéseauIQ, in addition to the fact that we have extensively diversified our sources of revenue in recent years, we have also built a financial reserve specifically for such transitions and all the risks to which our corporation is exposed due to it commercial nature. This visionary approach was implemented by the Board of Directors, which is made up of 9 of your fellow engineers who joined it in order to provide you with the best benefits, and made possible by a team of around twenty professionals who work hard to support the interests of engineers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their foresight, the quality of their support and their work.

In conclusion, I invite you to continue to send us your comments and questions. We will do everything we can to answer you as efficiently and transparently as possible so that you understand the situation. You can also consult the “Questions & Answers” section of our Web site on this topic or write to us at _dmel_cHJlc2lkZW50QHJlc2VhdUlRLnFjLmNh_fmel_.