Marc Viénot, ever a dynamic and committed executive, didn't really retire when he stepped down from his post as chairman of Société Générale on his 69th birthday in 1997.
In addition to serving on the board of directors of such companies as Vivendi, Alcatel and Aventis, he is chairman of Paris Europlace. The organization represents financial institutions in the French capital and promotes Paris as a financial centre.
Euromoney spoke to him about the pressure group and his role in it.
How did you become involved in Paris Europlace?
I became chairman of Paris Europlace because I was asked to be there by Ernest-Antoine Sellière who created Paris Europlace in 1993.
When you retire either you give up everything that you have done previously or you have to get other activities. Paris Europlace was a good way to stay "in" during my retirement. It happened to be active when I took the office.
I became chairman in February 1998 and then in July, London and Frankfurt merged. So we had to react to this. Then they did it again last year and we reacted by merging with Amsterdam and Brussels.