History
Societe Generale Was Established On May 4, 1864 By The Signing Of The French Emperor Napoleon III And Operated As A New Limited Company At That Time.
By 1870 There Were 47 Branches Throughout France, 15 Of Which Were In Paris, And The Following Year They Expanded To London. At The Same Time, National Bonds Were Issued To Pay War Reparations Under The Terms Of The Treaty Of Frankfurt, And The Network Was Gradually Expanded Due To The Economic Downturn Of 20 Years. It Was Only Expanded To 148 Branches In 1889. In 1894, A Series Of Innovations Attracted A Group Of Enterprises And Individuals To Deposit, And To Provide Short-term Credit To Merchants, And To Issue Stocks And Private Bonds In France And Russia. The Share Capital Structure Was Expanded Through Acquisitions. The Number Of Shareholders Ranged From 14,000 In 1895 To 122,000 In 1913.
The First World War Caused Societe Generale To Lose Its Business In Russia. However, In The 1920s, Societe Generale's Business Network Grew Rapidly From The 1890s, From 260 Seasonal Branches In 1910 To 864 In 1930. The Number Of Sales Outlets Increased From 1,005 In 1913 To 1,457 In 1933 (including The Outlets To Which Sogenal Belonged). Between 1921 And 1928, It Surpassed Its Peer Crédit Lyonnais In Attracting Savings And Loans. And In 1928, A Branch Specializing In Medium-term Credit, CALIF, Was Established To Meet The Requirements Of Investment Banks. From The Mid-1930s To The Eve Of World War II, The Size Of The Network Was Reduced To The Size Of 1922 Due To The Economic Downturn. At That Time, The Operating Policy Was Changed To Participate In A Large Number Of Public Bonds Issued By The Government Or Colonies. Until The Outbreak Of World War II, Banks Moved To Africa And America.
After The War, Societe Generale Was Nationalized, And France Entered A Period Of Rapid Economic Recovery Until 1958. At The Same Time, The Balance Of Payments Became More Unbalanced, And There Was A Growing Demand For The Introduction Of Continuous Control Of Foreign Exchange And Credit Facilities. The Economy Did Not Really Recover Until 1959, But Continued Inflationary Pressures Strengthened Credit Controls. With The Rapid Development Of Production And Foreign Trade. Among Them, The Business Of Banks Continued To Expand Because New York Outlets Could Also Go Through The Marshall Plan. Established Bases In Italy And Mexico And In Newly Independent Countries Derived From Decolonization In Africa. In 1966, As The Opening Of Branches No Longer Required Prior Approval, The French Business Saw Great Development, Such As In The Emerging Housing Mortgage Market And The Establishment Of New Credit Branches, Engaged In Financial Leasing And Other Businesses, And Established Bases In Belgium, Spain And Former Colonial Countries. In 1971, The Emergence Of Automated Teller Machines And Credit Cards And New Financial Instruments In The 1980s, Banks Focused More On Private Users Through Networks And Acquisition Companies. In 1986, There Were 2,873 Branches At Home And Abroad, And Branches Abroad Were Mainly Located In 30 Countries And Regions Including The United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco, Congo, Japan, Iran, The United States And Canada. On July 29, 1987, Societe Generale Was Privatized. In 1993, Its Assets Amounted To $2578.38 Billion, Making It The Fourth Largest Bank In France And The 27th Largest Bank In The World.
On January 24, 2008, The Bank Announced That Jérôme Kerviel, A Trader Dubbed The "devil Trader" By The Media, Had Illegally Traded European Stock Index Futures In The Future Market, Causing The Bank 4.82 Billion Euros In Losses. Together With The 2 Billion Euro Losses On Subprime Mortgages, Societe Generale Needed To Seek A Capital Injection Of About 5.50 Billion Euros From The Outside World. The Shares Of Societe Generale Were Temporarily Suspended For Trading On The Day.
Business Integration And Development
In 1997, The Retail Banking Business Was Strengthened By The Acquisition Of Crédit Du Nord, And Societe Generale Launched A "lifetime Account" To Increase Customer Loyalty, Introducing A Service Called "jazz". In 1998, A Separate Division Was Established To Establish A Retail Banking Business Outside France, Which Was Acquired In Romania, Bulgaria And Madagascar In 1999, Followed By The Acquisition Of Komercni Banka In The Czech Republic And SKB Banka In Slovenia In Central Europe In 2001, Eqdom In Morocco In 2002, And Union International De Banque In Tunisia. In Addition, A 48% Stake In SBB Bank Was Acquired In Ghana In 2003. Established In Mid-2001 As A Dedicated Financial Services Division, Acquired Deutsche Bank's Multi-brand Car Leasing And Financing ALD And Corporate Finance Sales GEFA. In 2002, Societe Generale Acquired Hertz, A Company Specializing In Ford Long-term Leasing And Fleet Management In Europe. Established A Subsidiary Societe Generale Asset Management In 1999, Followed By The Establishment Of The Subsidiary's UK Division In London "and The Acquisition Of Yamaichi In Japan. The Private Banking Sector Has Also Accelerated Through Acquisitions In The Past. Established SG GSSI In Quarter 1 In 2004 To Provide Investors With A Comprehensive Range Of Securities And Listed Financial Derivatives Services. In 1998, SG CIB Was Established To Develop Corporate And Investment Banking, And Through The Acquisition Of Hambros In The United Kingdom, Barr Devlin And Cowen In The United States, It Has Developed In The Field Of Mergers And Acquisitions, Consulting And IPO Business. On March 25, 2011, China UnionPay And Societe Generale Signed A Global Acquisition Business Cooperation Agreement In Shanghai, Agreeing To Gradually Realize UnionPay Card Withdrawal At Societe Generale's Global ATM And Card Payment At Merchant POS. In 2010, China UnionPay Partnered With Societe Generale To Open The Bank's UnionPay Card Business At ATMs In France, Monaco And French Reunion Island. According To The Signed Agreement, Socie ́ Te ́ Ge ́ Ne ́ Rale's ATMs In 14 Countries In Africa And Europe, As Well As Merchants In 8 Of Them, Will Gradually Accept UnionPay Cards Within One Year.
Business
The Bank Controls 11 Companies, Including The Head Office Of Alsace Bank, The Banking Center Company, And The Industrial And Banking Securities Finance Company. It Operates Various Deposit And Loan Businesses, Movable And Real Estate Leasing Businesses, Issuing Bonds For The State And The Public Sector, As Well As Foreign Financing For The French Government, Foreign Trade Financing, And Participation In European Bond Issuance And Loan Activities.
Chinese Mainland
Societe Generale Has 7 Branches In Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, Hangzhou And Harbin, And 1 Branch Each In Beijing And Shanghai. It Is One Of The Largest International Banks With Branches In The Chinese Mainland.
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