Responsible purchasing

Societe Generale works with large international groups, SMEs and innovative startups to fill our diverse purchasing needs. With all of the suppliers, Societe Generale aims to maintain close-knit relationships built on trust.

A relationship built on trust and balance

Societe Generale is intent on working with you to build relationships based on trust, fairness and transparency.

The Group's buyers ensure that suppliers are treated equally by sharing the same level of information with each of them.

Because banks are subject to specific national and international regulations, the Group offers, as of the transmission of the RFP, a template contract which can serve as basis for our exchanges to draw up the final agreement.

The Sourcing policy ensures the following:

• neutrality in the selection of suppliers via a transparent and impartial process;
• fairness in accessing deals, on the basis of free and loyal competition, giving the same opportunities to all;
• efficiency, in seeking the proposed solutions and innovations;
• operational, legal and contractual security;
• responsibility, incorporating the Group’s social and environmental commitments into the purchasing practices.

Serving the Group and our customers

The mission of the Sourcing teams is to identify, with suppliers' help, the most appropriate solutions to contribute to the operational efficiency of the Group.

To this end, the teams commit themselves, together with suppliers' help to:

• seeking reliable and competitive solutions to meet the clients’ needs;
• identifying the best solutions on the market to provide Group businesses with advice and expertise;
• anticipating changes and promoting innovative solutions.

This mission is part of the Group’s broader commitment to social and environmental responsibility, compliance and risk management.

The relationship with suppliers goes further than a simple search for the best price and satisfying an instant need. The Group carefully takes into consideration all the costs and impacts related to the purchase, use and related end-of-life impacts of a product or a service, taking a responsible sourcing approach.

Our responsible sourcing actions plan

Under the responsibility of the Purchasing Department, the Purchasing function handles the commercial and contractual processing of all the Group’s external commitments excluding salaries and direct personnel expenses.

Societe Generale’s Purchasing function is an important component of the Societe Generale Group’s CSR strategy, upholding its values and striving to meet its environmental and social commitments.

Initiated in 2006, the responsible purchasing policy, involving all stakeholders in the value chain (specifiers, buyers and suppliers), is now structured around two key areas.

Management of environmental and social risks

The management of environmental and social (E&S) risks in ensuring responsible purchasing and overseeing supplier relations is governed by the Group's documentation on standards. The operational implementation of this documentation on standards and the management of E&S risks at various stages of the purchasing process rely on tools to help identify, assess and manage E&S risks, at the level of the product or service purchased, and the supplier or service provider. These tools are deployed for purchases made by the Group Purchasing Department and at least for high-risk purchasing categories across the International Purchasing function and gradually across the rest of the Group.

See our Duty of care plan

Promotion of positive impact initiatives

In line with the Group’s CSR aims, three priorities have been defined.

Quality of supplier relations

The aim of the Purchasing Department is to set an example in its relations with all its suppliers, and to strengthen the way in which CSR considerations are integrated into these relations. In addition, in the event of a dispute and if a conflict with the buyer cannot be resolved, Societe Generale favours mediation as a management method.

The Group’s General Secretary assumes the role of internal mediator and may be contacted by email at: mediation.par@socgen.com

Societe Generale is continuing with its commitment to SMEs – it was the first bank to sign the SME Pact in December 2007 – and demonstrates its commitment to them by regularly conducting a satisfaction survey. The Group received a 70% overall satisfaction rating in the last survey conducted in 2023. 145 SME suppliers in France responded. This represented a response rate of 39%, up 4 points.

Using the Social and Solidarity Economy

In 2023, Societe Generale in France logged €14.8 million in expenses with Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) bodies and companies, exceeding the €14 million target that it had set itself for this period. In addition to increased involvement to help the adapted and protected sector, it is widening the scope of action to include partnerships with back-to-work schemes and other SSE players.

The environment

With regard to air travel and car fleets, the Purchasing Department plays a cross-functional steering role for the Group and advises the Business and Service Units, in order to help them achieve the Group’s carbon emission reduction targets (50% reduction between 2019 and 2030). In addition, the Purchasing Department is also involved in the Group’s initiatives to protect the planet’s biodiversity and, more specifically, in helping it to reach its target of eliminating single-use plastic among its employees by the end of 2025 throughout the Group. It is doing this by working with supplier ecosystems, in order to find alternative solutions that can be deployed operationally within the Group.

The Group’s purchasing practices form part of a continuous improvement approach and are in line with the continued implementation of the purchasing conduct and ethics rules applicable to purchasing. These are appended to the global agreement on fundamental rights with the UNI Global Union. Over the years, Societe Generale’s practices have been improved so that they now systematically take environmental and social considerations into account in the Group’s purchasing processes.

Our commitments in terms of responsible sourcing 

Since 2007, Societe Generale has been strengthening its approach to responsible purchasing every year. Through the signing of charters and pacts the Group further proves its commitment.

See our Sustainable sourcing charter