SocGen's Krupa slashes top management team, includes more women

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) -Societe Generale's incoming CEO Slawomir Krupa will cut the number of top management executives at the French bank by half and has hired Anne-Christine Champion from Natixis to co-lead investment banking.

The number of top executives at France's third-biggest bank will drop to 13 from 27 and seven of the 13 will be women, Krupa, who is due to take the helm in late May, said in a call to reporters on Thursday. The new team will present a new strategic plan in the third quarter.

"There's value in itself to be as representative as possible on this issue," Krupa said when asked about gender equality.

"But also more deeply, the diversity of the team contributes to its performance. I've experienced it in my career."

Krupa, 48, who currently heads the investment banking business, will be replaced by Champion, who joins from Natixis and Alexandre Fleury, who is being promoted from co-head of global markets activities.

Champion has been co-head of Natixis' investment banking division and a member of Natixis' senior management committee since 2020. She joined Natixis, which is part of France's second-biggest bank BPCE, in 2002 at its financial engineering department.

SocGen's investment bank division represents more than a third of the group's total revenue and was the biggest contributor to the company's net income in 2022.

The newly created executive committee of 13 members will have a core management team consisting of Krupa, current deputy CEO Philippe Aymerich and a second deputy CEO, Pierre Palmieri, who is being promoted from head of global banking and advisory.

Claire Dumas will remain finance chief.

Marie-Christine Ducholet will also join the executive committee as head of the bank's French retail network.

SocGen's shares are up close to 29% over the last 12 months, underperforming compared to the Euro STOXX sectorial stock index, which is up 48% over the same period, with SocGen set back by a costly exit from Russia last year.

SocGen's French retail banking activities are under the supervision of departing executive Sebastien Proto, who as deputy general manager is also in charge of private banking.

He won't be replaced in a like-for-like position under the new management structure.

Diony Lebot, who was deputy CEO under departing boss Frederic Oudea, will become advisor to the general management team.

All the appointments are set to be effective from SocGen's shareholder meeting which is scheduled for May 23, including Krupa's position as CEO.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Edwina Gibbs and Susan Fenton)