Societe Generale’s strong historical footprint in Central and Eastern Europe and Africa, together with its growing business in the Middle East, mean that the French bank has a combination of deep knowledge and competitive local presence in the CEEMEA region.
This was evident at the height of the Russia-Ukraine crisis last year, when it worked with clients to hedge or unwind exposure related to roubles and hryvnia.
SocGen has also worked with clients to navigate operational challenges, such as evolving nostro account regulations and improving the way clients manage settlement risk.
Its strong local trading presence in CEE and Africa – the bank is active in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Algeria, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Tunisia, Central and West Africa – mean that it can offer FX spot, with 24/5 competitive trading books across all pairs, both voice and electronic, as well as swaps trading in an extensive range of CEEMEA currencies.
SocGen also boasts strong capabilities in its frontier markets offering.
The research product focuses on fundamentals and relative-value analysis in CEEMEA markets. The bank has added an additional strategist to its EM team, who will cover six African frontier markets. It is one of the few investment banks that regularly publishes research on these markets.
"This is a great recognition of our long-standing commitment to the region where we have a strong-historical footprint in CEE and Africa as well as a growing business in the Middle East," says Alex Dewhurst, head of FX and emerging markets sales at Societe Generale.
"With our clients, we have built over the years a robust ecosystem within the region both locally and internationally. These partnerships, coupled with our high-quality service, ensure our clients trust us for their day to day needs to the more complex and strategic transactions.
"The quality of our content is also highly regarded by our clients and has been recognized by the industry surveys."