Société Générale has a new head. Slawomir Krupa became CEO of the bank on Tuesday, after fifteen years of reign of Frédéric Oudéa, catapulted to this post in 2008 after the Kerviel crisis.

First elected director at the group's General Meeting of Shareholders on Tuesday, Slawomir Krupa, 48, was appointed CEO by the Board of Directors, as planned by the latter in September 2022.

Almost 30 years with the bank

This Franco-Polish who joined the bank in 1996 with the red and black logo is described as direct, even a little "eruptive" according to a former executive of the bank. He "has all the skills to run our house," said Frédéric Oudéa during the assembly.

The new leader has on his desk several projects opened in recent years by his predecessor, such as the merger of the two retail banking networks in France - with Crédit du Nord - under the same red and black banner, SG, or the integration of the company Leaseplan by the car leasing subsidiary ALD, whose acquisition was finalized on Monday. "It will be up to him, with the new Executive Management, to pursue these initiatives and further transform the group for the greater benefit of its shareholders, customers and all its teams," commented Chairman of the Board Lorenzo Bini Smaghi.

A "discounted" price on the stock market

The share price, "discounted and subject to a certain volatility" by the admission of the outgoing CEO, will also be one of the main projects for the new management team, which will present its strategic orientations in September.

The departure of Frédéric Oudéa, one of the oldest bank bosses in Europe, was surprising when it was announced a year ago. It marks the turning point of an era, punctuated by crises of all kinds. "This is obviously a very important moment for me," Frédéric Oudéa told shareholders, after "fifteen years of rare intensity" and "many large-scale crises", from the Kerviel affair in 2008 to the war in Ukraine in 2022. On Tuesday, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi did not fail to praise a "captain for the tormented waters".

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