Reduced SocGen retains a local licence

Société Générale will retain its branch banking licence in Australia, the firm's outgoing chief executive, John Harvey, told the Financial Review.

An earlier interview with Dow Jones, reported yesterday, suggested that "a complete withdrawal" from Australia was on the cards. Harvey clarified that via the AFR, given that SocGen plans to continue to offer select banking products, including commodity financing and derivatives, to Australian clients.

SocGen was one of the first and, as it turned out, one of the few, foreign banks to wind down in Australia following the credit shock that began in 2007.

The bank's loan book to non-financial corporations in Australia was down to $1.4 billion at November 2009, monthly data from APRA shows. SocGen's business lending peaked at $4.9 billion in February 2008.

SocGen's internal issues, including severe losses from rogue trading, helped hasten this decision to rationalise its portfolio in Asia.

That strategy has since shifted back to one of growth in Asia, though the focus for the bank, consistent with the last two years, is to build capability in locations within Asia, and notably China, mainly in Hong Kong.

Michel Peretie, chief executive of SocGen's corporate and investment banking arm, said in a separate interview with Dow Jones that the bank aimed to lift revenue from the Asian region to 15 per cent by the end of 2012, up from 10 per cent today.