Frederic Oudea is to step down as chief executive of Societe Generale after 15 years in the position. His current term expires at next year’s annual general meeting, and Oudea told this year’s meeting, held on Tuesday, he would not seek to renew it.
Chairman Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said the board hoped to have a candidate to replace Oudea ready for approval at that meeting, scheduled for May 23 2023. The board said it expected Oudea to lead the group until then.
Oudea spent eight years in the French finance ministry, before joining the bank in 1995, initially as deputy head of corporate banking in London. He was then appointed head of global supervision and development in equities, before becoming deputy chief financial officer in 2002 and chief financial officer the following January.
His reign as chief executive started in 2008, the same year as the bank lost nearly €5bn from a series of rogue trades by Jerome Kerviel. SG, like other banks, has faced a series of scandals since the financial crisis of that year too.
The bank was involved in a cartel to fix Euribor, for which it paid a €446m fine in 2014. More recently, it paid US$1.4bn in late 2018 in a settlement with US authorities following accusations it dodged sanctions against Cuba and other countries. Earlier in 2018, the bank had also paid US$1.3bn to US and French authorities over transactions with Libya and rigging Libor.
The bank’s fortunes improved last year, after making losses on structured equities in the first half of 2020. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has affected the group, forcing it to sell Russian subsidiary Rosbank to previous owner Vladimir Potanin’s Interros Group for a €3.1bn loss.
SG’s shares are down 23% so far this year at €24, which is significantly below their €82 level at the beginning of 2008. In the first quarter, its financing and advisory arm outperformed peers with a 24% rise in revenues to €790m. The whole investment banking division saw an 18% rise in revenues to €2.76bn.
Oudea is also a director of consultant Cap Gemini.