Societe Generale (SG) chief executive, Frederic Oudea, longest ever CEO at SG stepped down after 15 years of dedication. His current contract has expired, but despite the renewal opportunity, he chose to step down. Chairman Lorenzo Bini Smaghi announced that the board expects an immediate new candidate ready for approval in May 2023. In the meantime, the board wants Oudea to handle the French bank.
Since 1995, Oudea has spent at least eight years working at the French finance ministry. Before, he took the position as a deputy head of corporate banking in London. Before becoming deputy chief financial officer in 2002, he worked as a head of global supervision and development in equities.
Oudea took the position at SG in May 2008. This is the same year when the bank lost almost €5bn after rough trades by Jerome Kerviel. The financial crisis has led to great scandals to other banks, SG is no exception. The bank paid €446m fine in a cartel to fix Euribor later in 2014, It also paid as much as $1.4bn in 2018 in a settlement with U.S. authorities following sanctions against Cuba and other countries. In addition, there was also payment of $1.3bn in 2018 to US and French authorities following Libya and Libor. So, it is quite a shock that Oudea does not apply for renewal.
During the recovery, the bank finally improved last year after facing losses on structured equities in 2020. It does not stop here, the invasion of Ukraine forced SG to sell Russian subsidiary Rosebank to Interros Group. This transaction had resulted in a €3.2bn loss for SG. When the closure occurred, Potanin told Interfax that he did not participate in any further deals. In other words, they focused on Rosebank’s portfolio, technology, and sustainability.
