Another strong year at Meridian

Highlights from Meridian's Annual General Meeting

TORONTO, April 26, 2019 /CNW/ - Meridian, Ontario's largest credit union, and third largest in Canada, celebrated another strong year marked by continued growth, increased brand awareness and gaining industry recognition at its 14^th Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, April 23.

"We are redefining what Canadians can expect from their financial service partner by staying bold and relevant in the marketplace," said Bill Maurin, CEO of Meridian. "Strong financials, a solid foundation and an amazing talented pool of employees will continue to propel our continued success and growth trajectory while staying true to our core values."

Board highlights:

Four Directors were elected to the Board, including: Gail Harding, Carol Hunter, Andrew Lo, and Tamara Paton. More than 200 applications for the four available board positions were received, in part due to changes implemented by the Board to make Meridian's nomination process more inclusive than ever before.

Karen Farbridge was re-appointed by the Board as Board Chair after the Annual General Meeting, as was Tamara Paton as Vice-Chair.

The following directors were confirmed as committee chairs until the next Annual General Meeting:

• Audit & Finance: Ken Bolton
• Governance: Carol Hunter
• Human Resources: Peter Patchet
• Nominating: Colleen Sidford
• Risk: Larry Doran

"It is the Board's responsibility to ensure that we find the best qualified candidates who are willing to share their best," said Karen Farbridge, Board Chair of Meridian. "Together, with Meridian's excellent management team and dedicated employees, we look forward to another year of serving our Members, who are at the centre of all we do."

Growth highlights:

Over the last five years Meridian has almost doubled in size. Following are some notable growth highlights from 2018:

• Total assets under management grew by 13% to $20.4 billion by year-end;
• Consolidated pre-tax earnings grew strongly to $85.8 million, up 46% from 2017;
• There was exceptionally strong relationship growth of $3.4 billion;
• Meridian's membership base grew by 9%, marked by a notable trend of younger new Members, providing an opportunity to develop well-rounded and long-lasting relationships;
• Motusbank received its Letters Patent in November 2018 from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), enabling Meridian's new subsidiary to move forward with its official launch on April 2, 2019.

Recognition and brand highlights:

In October 2018, Meridian earned an Excellence in Governance Award from the Governance Professionals of Canada for Best Approach to Achieving Effective Board and Committee Operations.

For the second consecutive year, in November 2018, Meridian was honoured to be named as a 2019 Platinum Level Aon Best Employer in Canada, the premiere benchmark for assessing the quality and performance of Canadian and global workplaces.

About Meridian

With more than 75 years of banking history, Meridian is Ontario's largest credit union and the third largest in Canada, helping to grow the lives of its more than 340,000 Members.   Meridian has  $21.3 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2019 and delivers a full range of financial services online, by phone, by mobile and through a network of 91 branches across Ontario, and commercial banking services in 12 locations. Meridian Members also have access to THE EXCHANGE® Network, with 3,700 no-fee ABMs across Canada and 500,000 ABMs in the United States. For more information, please visit: meridiancu.ca. 

SOURCE Meridian Credit Union

Media Contact: Teresa Pagnutti, Senior Manager, Public Relations, Meridian, [email protected], 416-597-4444 Ext. 2667