MONTREAL -- Desjardins Group is showing two senior executives the door in the wake of a data breach that affected 4.2 million members.
The management restructuring, which comes following an internal review, leaves chief operating officer Denis Berthiaume and senior information technology vice-president Chadi Habib out of a job.
Desjardins says the financial co-operative "has come to a mutual agreement...to end their respective working relationships."
Chief executive Guy Cormier, who announced the changes in a conference call with employees Tuesday, says that "trust between a president and their management committee is essential," and that new leadership was necessary "in light of the events of the last few months."
The breach, which scooped up data including social insurance numbers, names and addresses, came to light in June.
A pair of privacy watchdogs launched an investigation in July to examine whether Desjardins, which operates mostly in Quebec, was in compliance with federal and provincial laws around personal information protection.
Desjardins says former chief financial officer Real Bellemare will replace the chief operating officer. Bellemare will also take on the role of interim IT chief until the position can be filled.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2019.
