Leadership changes at Societe Generale to meet the increased importance of ESG and digital transformation

Leadership changes at Societe Generale to meet the increased importance of ESG and digital transformation

(PRESS RELEASE) PARIS, 10-Dec-2021 — /EuropaWire/ — Société Générale (EPA: GLE), a European leader in financial services with over 150 years of history, has announced that the adaptations of the organisation of the Group’s General Management team proposed by Frédéric Oudéa have been approved by the Board of Directors on a meeting held on 9 December, 2021 and chaired by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi.

As an extension of initiatives currently underway, two major transformations will structure the Group’s strategic roadmap, meeting the increasing importance of ESG and digital issues, and be directly embodied at General Management level. 

Diony Lebot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, will be responsible for overseeing all ESG policies and their effective incorporation into the strategic trajectories adopted by the Group’s business units and functions. She also retains supervision of the specialised financial services and insurance activities, and particularly the strategic development of ALD Automotive, for which she chairs the Board of Directors. 

Gaëlle Olivier is appointed Deputy General Manager of the Group and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, she will supervise the Group’s resources and be responsible for coordinating the IT, digital transformation and Innovation function. She will be replaced as CEO of the Asia region by Cécile Bartenieff, currently Chief Operating Officer for Global Banking & Investor Solutions and a member of the Group’s Management Committee, in compliance with local regulations.

Following the completion of the remediation programmes concerning US legal proceedings, supervised until their termination by Diony Lebot, Frédéric Oudéa, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, will take over the direct supervision of the Risk and Compliance control functions, in addition to the General Inspection and Audit function, the Finance function, the Corporate Secretary and Human Resources and Communications.

Philippe Aymerich remains Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of all Retail Banking activities. Sébastien Proto remains Deputy General Manager in charge of the French Retail Banking networks and Private Banking, and is notably responsible for the creation of the new retail bank resulting from the merger between the Societe Generale and Crédit du Nord networks. 

Slawomir Krupa remains Deputy General Manager and Head of Global Banking and Investor Solutions. 

This new organisation will be effective from 17 January, 2022.

Frédéric Oudéa, Chief Executive Officer, comments: “I wanted to adapt the organisation of the General Management team and the distribution of responsibilities within it, in order to embody the two cross-functional transformations of ESG and digital technology at General Management level, as these will affect all our businesses and functions, as well as to maintain close oversight of all our strategic initiatives at the highest level of the company. Our priority in the coming quarters will be the perfect execution of all our various projects, with the ambition of building a bank fully adapted to meeting challenges of tomorrow.”

Biographies

Gaëlle Olivier has been Chief Executive Officer of Societe Generale Asia Pacific since January 2020. Gaëlle Olivier has 30 years of experience in the financial services sector. She began her career at Crédit Lyonnais as a Financial Engineer for equity derivatives. In 1998, she joined AXA where she held several management positions for 20 years, including 10 years in Asia (Japan, China, Hong-Kong, South-East Asia and India). In July 2016, she became Managing Director of Property and Casualty Insurance activities for the AXA Group, and member of the Group Management Committee. At the end of 2017, she decided to leave the AXA Group to support the development of start-ups specialising in data and innovation.  Gaëlle Olivier is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, ENSAE and a Chartered Actuary from the Institut des Actuaires.

Cécile Bartenieff is Chief Operating Officer of Global Banking & Investor Solutions since June 2017. Cécile Bartenieff began her career in 1990 at Accenture’s consulting division before joining BRED Banque Populaire in 1995 where she worked successively as an Arbitrage trader and then in sales for large Corporates. Cécile Bartenieff joined Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking in 2000. She held various managerial positions within the Finance and Operations departments before joining the COO office of Global Markets. In 2014, Cécile Bartenieff was appointed Head of Operations of Global Banking & Investor Solutions. Cécile Bartenieff holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the ESSEC Business School.

Press contacts: 
Jean-Baptiste Froville 01 58 98 68 00 – jean-baptiste.froville@socgen.com

SOURCE: Societe Generale