First Nations Bank of Canada

First Nations Bank of Canada
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1996
HeadquartersSaskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Total assetsCAD
WebsiteFirst Nations Bank of Canada

First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC) (French: La Banque des Premières Nations du Canada) is the first Canadian chartered bank to be independently controlled by Indigenous shareholders.[1] FNBC is a Schedule 1 Federally Regulated Bank in accordance with the Bank Act[2] and received its charter on 19 November 1996. The bank headquarters are located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

As of 2014, Indigenous Canadian groups own 80 percent of the bank.[3]

History

It began as a venture initiated by First Nations in Saskatchewan and was established in 1996 as a strategic alliance of the Saskatchewan Indian Equity Foundation, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, now the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (a First Nations organisation), and TD Bank. The first branch opened in Saskatoon.[4] A ceremony was held in Toronto in 1996 to celebrate the bank's launch.[4]

The bank focuses on commercial customers in markets dominated by Indigenous peoples, including Indigenous businesses, Indigenous governments and organizations, and non-Indigenous businesses serving Indigenous markets.[5]

The bank also has a growing volume of personal loans and mortgages primarily focused in its growing branch network of nine full service branches and eight community banking centres in markets with significant numbers of Indigenous peoples.[6]

At the end of 2009, the First Nations Bank had lent $160.2 million, with assets totalling $266.5 million. The profit increased from 2008 to 2009 from 8,000 to 157,000 dollars.[7] In 2010, the bank reported an income of $10.2 million.[8]

The bank officially de-coupled from TD Bank in 2012. The two banks had entered into a seven-year partnership starting in 2007.[9]

The bank is majority owned by 78 Indigenous shareholders that hold, in aggregate, over 80% ownership interest in the shares of the bank.[1]

Services

FNBC offers services focused on Indigenous and non-Indigenous customers:

  • Deposit accounts
  • Investments
  • Commercial Loans
  • Mortgages
  • Micro Loans
  • Cash Management
  • Credit Products
  • ABM access

Operations

Corporate Offices:

FNBC Branches:[6]

Community Banking Centres:[6]

Membership

FNBC is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks. It is also a member of:

References

  1. ^ a b "FNBC at a Glance - Our History". Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Bank Act (S.C. 1991, c. 46)". Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  3. ^ "First Nations Bank opens branch in Yellowknife". CBC. 15 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b Dickason, Olive Patricia (1997). Canada's first nations: a history of founding peoples from earliest times. Oxford University. pp. 423–24.
  5. ^ Anderson, Robert Brent (1999). Economic Development Among the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada: The Hope for the Future. Captus Press. p. 186.
  6. ^ a b c "First Nations Bank of Canada - FNBC at a Glance". www.fnbc.ca.
  7. ^ First Nations Bank of Canada (28 January 2010). "First Nations Bank of Canada reports strong results for fiscal 2009". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 30 July 2020 – via CNW/Cision.
  8. ^ Anderson, Alan L. (20 September 2013). Home in the City: Urban Aboriginal Housing and Living Conditions. University of Toronto Press. p. 297.
  9. ^ "First Nations Bank separates from TD". 12 September 2012.
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