Acceleration of the adaptation of the French Retail Banking network: Exceptional charge in Q4 17

Societe Generale is embarking on a new phase in the adaptation of its French network in order to accelerate the increase in expertise and agility of its organisation aimed at serving all of its customers.

The Board of Directors met on 23 November 2017 under the chairmanship of Lorenzo Bini Smaghi to examine a plan for the reorganisation of its French network, which was submitted to the social partners today. The plan could lead to a headcount reduction of approximately 900 employees, in addition to the 2,550 already announced at the beginning of 2016, taking the total number to around 3,450 by 2020. In the spirit of the intense and constant social dialogue with respect to the transformation of the French retail networks, the Group’s Management will examine with the social partners the consequences on employment of the project, which will be based primarily on internal mobility, and also natural and voluntary departures.
This reorganisation, as well as the acceleration of the programme to overhaul certain aspects of the compliance framework, will result in the Group recording an exceptional charge of around EUR -400 million in Q4 17.
Furthermore, the Group will reflect, in its Q4 17 accounts, the effects of all the tax changes expected in Q4 17:
• The refund of the additional 3% contribution on dividends, which was rejected by the Constitutional Council
• The exceptional tax on corporate income that is planned as part of the 2017 draft finance amendment law
• The progressive reduction in the corporate tax rate of the draft 2018 budget law
The net effect of these tax changes, which are either effective or have been submitted for final promulgation, could result in the Group booking a charge of approximately EUR -170 million in Q4 17.