management jump to navigation search for other uses see soci t g n rale disambiguation . soci t g n rale s.a. building team spirit together the tours soci t g n rale headquarters in la d fense near paris type soci t anonyme industry financial services founded may 4 1864 ; 152 years ago 1864 05 04 headquarters boulevard haussmann 9th arrondissement paris registered office tours soci t g n rale nanterre la d fense france operational headquarters area served worldwide key people fr d ric oud a ceo products retail private investment and corporate banking ; insurance ; investment management revenue 25.639 billion 2015 1 operating income 5.681 billion 2015 1 profit 4.001 billion 2015 1 total assets 1.334 trillion 2015 1 total equity 62.675 billion 2015 1 number of employees 146 000 2015 2 website societegenerale.com soci t g n rale s.a. is a french multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in paris . the company is a universal bank and has divisions supporting french networks global transaction banking international retail banking financial services corporate and investment banking private banking asset management and securities services . soci t g n rale is france s third largest bank by total assets 3 sixth largest in europe 4 or seventeenth by market capitalization . 5 the company is a component of the euro stoxx 50 stock market index . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 1864 1893 1.2 1894 1930 1.3 1931 1945 1.4 from nationalisation to privatisation 1945 1990 1.4.1 1945 1964 1.4.2 1965 1990 1.5 1990 2009 1.6 2010 present 1.6.1 2008 2009 years of crises 1.6.2 2010 a year of recovery 1.6.3 2011 financial crisis 2 presentation 2.1 activity 2.2 patronage and sponsorship 3 leadership 3.1 executive committee 3.2 board of directors 4 affiliates 4.1 fimat 4.2 lyxor asset management 5 corporate affairs 6 controversies 7 awards 8 see also 9 notes and references 10 external links history edit the registered office and former headquarters of soci t g n rale . soci t g n rale is one of the oldest banks in france . founded in 1864 its original name was soci t g n rale pour favoriser le d veloppement du commerce et de l industrie en france english general company to support the development of commerce and industry in france . 1864 1893 edit the bank was founded by a group of industrialists and financiers during the second empire on may 4 1864 . 7 the bank s first chairman was the prominent industrialist eug ne schneider 1805 1875 followed by edward blount a scotsman . the company started to hire employees and establish offices . coverage of france went ahead at a steady rate . by 1870 the bank had 15 branches in paris and 32 in the rest of france . it set up a permanent office in london in 1871 . 7 at the beginning the bank used its own resources almost entirely for both financial and banking operations . in 1871 soci t g n rale moved into the public french issues market with a national debenture loan launched to cover the war indemnity stipulated in the treaty of frankfurt . 7 in 1886 soci t g n rale was part of the bank consortium along with the franco egyptian bank and the cr dit industriel et commercial that financed the construction of the eiffel tower . 8 from 1871 to 1893 france went through a period of economic gloom marked by the failure of several banking establishments . the company continued to grow at a more moderate pace . in 1889 there were 148 banking outlets demonstrating the group s capacity to withstand unfavourable economic conditions . 7 1894 1930 edit soci t g n rale s central branch in paris now a monument historique . starting in 1894 the bank set up the structures characterising a large modern credit institution . as well as collecting company and private deposits its branches started to provide short term operating credits for industrialists and traders . it also moved into placing shares with the general public issuing private debenture loans in france and also in russia . acquisition of equity stakes became a more secondary activity . the company s excellent financial health allowed it to expand its shareholding structure . in 1895 soci t g n rale had 14 000 shareholders . in 1913 they numbered 122 000 . the war years were difficult and had serious consequences with the loss of russian business . however during the 1920s soci t g n rale became france s leading bank its network had grown sharply since the 1890s with a huge number of branches and seasonal offices allowing in depth penetration of the provincial market 260 seasonal offices in 1910 and 864 in 1930 . the number of sales outlets rose from 1 005 in 1913 to 1 457 in 1933 including those operated by sogenal fr . thanks also to the dynamism of supervisory and management staff at head office and in the branch offices it moved ahead of cr dit lyonnais in terms of deposits collected and loans distributed between 1921 and 1928 . to satisfy the requirements of investing companies soci t g n rale created a subsidiary calif specialised in medium term credit in 1928 . on an international level the bank held an active participation in the russo asian bank one of the leading bank of the russian empire . 9 soci t g n rale first settled in russia through the severnyi bank in 1901 before merging with the russo asian bank in 1910 which held a majority stake in the chinese eastern railway . 10 1931 1945 edit the 1930s were another difficult period . given the decline in international and french business the bank was forced to nationalise its network by closing down local branches . on the eve of world war ii the number of sales outlets was not much greater than in 1922 . however soci t g n rale was active in placing numerous public loans launched during this period by the state or the colonies . the war and the german occupation interrupted its advance but the bank moved into africa and the united states . from nationalisation to privatisation 1945 1990 edit 1945 1964 edit soci t g n rale was nationalised in 1945 . it now had a single shareholder the state . the period from 1945 to 1958 was characterised in france by rapid economic recovery but also a greater disequilibrium in the balance of payments calling for continued exchange controls and virtually permanent credit control measures . it was not until 1959 that the economy really recovered but credit controls were reinforced due to persistent inflationary pressures . sharp growth in production and foreign trade opened up new areas of business for the banks . the industry underwent some quite radical changes one of the most striking of which was much greater specialisation of credit . the range of banking services on offer expanded uninterruptedly . thanks to its presence in new york soci t g n rale was able to take advantage of the flow of business generated by the marshall plan . soci t g n rale continued to expand in france and beyond . it moved into italy and mexico and altered the status of its establishments in africa after decolonisation in accordance with the laws passed by these newly independent countries . 1965 1990 edit soci t g n rale gave new impetus to its french network with an acceleration in growth after 1966 following elimination of prior authorisation for opening branch offices . international expansion was just as vigorous . it was no longer limited as before to the main financial centres london new york neighbouring countries belgium spain and the former colonies with the primary aim of facilitating the business of french firms but was also aimed at guaranteeing the bank s presence where new markets were developing either to export the technical expertise it had acquired in certain fields or to keep up its contact with the multi nationals . 11 1966 and 1967 represented a fundamental turning point in banking regulations the main development being attenuation of the distinction between deposit and investment banking and creation of the home mortgage market . soci t g n rale took advantage of this and acquired leading positions in some new financing techniques designed primarily for companies such as finance leasing setting up specialised credit subsidiaries for this purpose . the 1970s were characterised by two major developments expansion of the international network and across the board introduction of it facilities to cope with extension of the customer base and the development of deposit money . in 1971 the appearance of automatic cash machines crowned the success and development of the credit card . in 1973 soci t g n rale opened its representative office in the soviet union . 11 in 1975 soci t g n rale introduced agrifan a food products trading company to connect french suppliers with foreign food buyers . the following year during the bastille day holiday a meticulously planned robbery was carried out against soci t g n rale s most heavily fortified vault in france by ex paratrooper and wedding photographer albert spaggiari . the robbery which involved secretly tunneling underground and compromising the walls of the bank vault netted spaggiari over 12 million in cash jewellery and bullion . 11 from the beginning of the 1980s against a backdrop of deregulation and technological change internationalisation of the markets and the emergence of new financial instruments soci t g n rale set itself two commercial objectives . it focused increasingly on private customers via its network of branches and by acquiring specialised subsidiaries . it pursued and expanded its activities in the capital markets in france and then on a selective basis in the different international financial centres . on july 29 1987 soci t g n rale was privatised . it had been chosen from among the three leading french commercial banks nationalised in 1945 for its excellent risk coverage equity and productivity ratios . george soros was a share holder in 1988 . 1990 2009 edit in recent years the soci t g n rale group has focused on developing its activities around three core businesses through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions . retail banking was strengthened in 1997 through the acquisition of cr dit du nord highlighting the group s determination to capitalise on the restructuring of the french banking system . at the same time soci t g n rale looked to secure the long term loyalty of its customers launch of one account number for life and introduction of jazz a package of service offers . in 1999 it entered into a merger agreement with rival bank paribas but this was scuppered by a competitor the banque nationale de paris bnp . a soci t g n rale expresbank office in plovdiv bulgaria . in 1998 soci t g n rale set up retail banking outside france as a separate division underscoring the group s resolve to make this business one of its strategic development axes . this activity was also strengthened in 1999 through the acquisitions made in romania brd groupe soci t g n rale bulgaria soci t g n rale expresbank and madagascar . this external growth strategy has been manifested through acquisitions in central europe komer n banka in the czech republic and skb banka sl in slovenia in 2001 . investment banking at societe generale in russia was run by jacques der megreditchian until 2000 12 at that time soci t g n rale became officially concerned with money laundering scandal and underground economy . 13 in 2001 soci t g n rale acquired a controlling interest in the tcw group . the tcw group which was founded in