Societe Generale has returned to the Australian ADI market after a six-year absence. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced yesterday that it had granted Soc Gen a licence to operate as a foreign authorised deposit-taking institution. It was previously granted an ADI licence in 2003 but relinquished it in 2013. An APRA spokesperson said the licence was revoked at the bank's request and was not a result of any regulatory action. The country head is Soc Gen veteran Pascal Sefrin, who will report to the Asia Pacific head. Since 2011 he has been head of corporate client coverage for Asia Pacific. He has been with the bank since 1986. The bank said in a media release that it would use the new licence to expand its global finance and investment banking activities here. It claims leadership in energy, mining and infrastructure financing, structured finance, bond issuance securitisation and real estate finance. The bank has had a presence in Australia in one form or another since 1981.