Shocked by the sudden withdrawal of short-term dollar funding from US money-market funds 18 months ago, Société Générale has moved quickly to rein in businesses that depended on it, especially in the US and Asia, and to concentrate scarce resources on its European clients. It has also reoriented the financing business inside a corporate and investment bank that accounts for roughly one-third of the whole group’s allocated equity and a similar portion of its profits. Is that the right size to avoid undue pressure from regulators and investors?

A risk-aware strategy has allowed Société Générale’s operations in central and eastern Europe to perform relatively well overall since 2008. But its portfolio is a mix of good and bad, big and small businesses. And after the eurozone crisis, does the French bank have what it takes to achieve its ambitions in the region?

Société Générale has reorganized its global markets business by merging four separate units into one business called fixed income and currencies (FIC), which sees several of its corporate FX salespeople being promoted to senior roles under the new structure.

Two former FX option traders were awarded damages for unfair dismissal by Société Générale in a French employment court on Monday.

With deals still hard to come by, what can investment bankers do when they have nothing to do? And what was behind Michel Peretié’s sudden departure from SocGen?

Euromoney exclusively reports on the bank’s plans to expand its presence in emerging markets through partnership deals with other financials

As concerns grow over French bank sovereign debt holdings, Moody’s cuts Société Générale and Crédit Agricole’s credit ratings – to no surprise from the market.

After stock collapses, bank talks up asset quality; Says profit warning reflects tougher outlook

SG’s market-leading equity derivatives franchise and reduction of internal silos allows it to lead the rest.

Bank has had good results by sticking to its derivatives skills; Michel Péretié, head of CIB, is seeing first fruits of investment in M&A advisory

Barely a week goes by without a bank or ECN launching or upgrading a platform, so we weren’t cock-a-hoop when the news that Societe Generale had launched an FX single-dealer platform landed on our desks last week.

The trickle of Q3 results continues with interim numbers released by Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Lloyds and, late in the week, RBS.

BNP Paribas and Société Générale both broke into the top six of banks catering for non-financial institutions in this year’s FX survey. Trevor Carr reports.

Builds out onshore presence in markets; Focuses on project finance, lending in banking

There are obviously legal sensitivities involved, but until SocGen clarifies why it suspended two senior FX staff, especially if no losses occurred, the departures will remain the subject of speculation – and some of that will be wrong.

Global head of spot and option trading, head of structuring Europe and Asia, are both asked to leave.

SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE: SG’s equity derivatives business has bounced back from l’affaire Kerviel with new controls in place and a renaissance of its legendary inventiveness

When it comes to listing the leading international banking groups that operate in central and eastern Europe, the names that immediately spring to mind are such banks as RZB and Erste Bank from Austria or Italy’s UniCredit or Intesa SanPaolo. But France’s Société Générale can also justifiably lay claim to being one of the leaders of the emerging European banking pack through its ownership of household names throughout the region – including Splitska Banka in Croatia, Komercni Banka in the Czech Republic, BRD in Romania, Rosbank in Russia and SKB Banka in Slovenia. In addition to these big players, it owns banks in Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Macedonia and Moldova. Altogether the bank has 17 subsidiaries with more than 2,800 branches in the region, which serve more than 10 million customers. Central and eastern Europe accounts for 75% of Société Générale’s net business income from its international retail banking operations. Concerns about the short-term economic health of the region notwithstanding, Jean-Louis Mattei, head of international retail banking, says: "We are focusing on managing our overheads but are also preparing for any rebound – there’s still a lot of room for development in the region."

The chief executives of 11 of the world's biggest banks discuss the lessons they have learnt from the global financial crisis, their concerns over a regulatory backlash, and how they plan to rebuild profitability in the toughest markets in history.

A merger of BNP Paribas and Société Générale would be difficult to fund and to execute.

It is inconceivable that SocGen would have been able to rack up such a huge position and loss in a bilateral, OTC market because it would have inevitably filled many of its credit lines.

Daniel Bouton of Société Générale, Baudouin Prot of BNP Paribas, Walter Rothensteiner of Raiffeisen Zentralbank and Alfredo Sáenz of Santander speak about the challenges in the new financial world order.

It was off on Tuesday evening to Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking’s winter press party, which the bank has far too much class to call its Christmas bash.

Rapid growth of its flow business has facilitated the development of SG’s traditional complex products expertise.

While writing this column I have met many interesting people. I have also met many delightful people. However, I have not met anyone more delightful and interesting than Jean-Pierre Mustier, the chief executive officer of Société Générale’s corporate and investment bank.

“I think we need to improve even more on the customer front. Customers are listening to what you say in terms of capital structure, liability management as a whole and then you can focus on one specific topic, one particular product. But you need to have people fully aligned”

Societe Generale rumoured as preferred buyer of Ohridska Bank. The management of Ohridska Bank has decided to sell a 52% stake to France ’s Societe Generale, Vecer daily reports on the back of unofficial information. The share transfer is expected to place by the end of this year. Vecer adds that that it has not received a confirmation of the information from the local lender because its directors were absent. Ohridska Bank’s management has negotiated with two other suitors as well: Slovenia ’s Nova Ljubljanska Banka as well as a third foreign bank. Ohridska Bank reported pre-tax profit of MKD 164.3mn (EUR 2.7mn) for Jan-Sep, up 45% against the same period last year. The total assets of Ohridska Bank have increased by 12.6% to MKD 7bn (EUR 115.1mn) as of end-2005. The bank’s equity stood at MKD 874.2mn as of that date. The lender’s net profit has been MKD 106.1mn last year, up 4.3%. Ohridska Bank is listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange and is included in its blue-chip index MBI-10.

Can Bouton’s unique vision drive SG forward?

Can Bouton’s unique vision drive SG forward?

Daniel Bouton, chairman of Société Générale, plays the game by his own rules. He doesn’t believe that to be a successful investment bank you have to be a global player with a franchise in almost every market. He won’t be rushed into acquisitions. And he thinks that French banks have an exciting story to tell. Having put potential high-growth markets such as equity derivatives and emerging Europe at the heart of his bank’s engine room, is he about to turn the accepted wisdoms on their head? Clive Horwood reports, with research by Lawrence White.