French lender Societe Generale has secured regulatory approval to resume its banking operations in Australia.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has given its permission to Societe Generale to operate as a foreign authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) in the country.

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Societe Generale Australia licence

The banking licence will enable the French lender to raise funds and commence lending operations.

Societe Generale secured the licence, more than a year after it started the process to enter the country.

Since 2012, the lender had not been listed as a licencee by the Australian banking regulator.

It is entering the Australian banking market at a time when the domestic lenders are disarrayed following a series of scandals and a subsequent government inquiry.

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The bank has also appointed Pascal Sefrin as group country head for Australia, reported Reuters.

Societe Generale withdrew majority of its operations from Australian in 2010. It continued to serve Australian clients from its Hong Kong office.

Last month, the bank announced to trim its workforce by 1,600 following last year’s poor performance. The job cuts will mainly impact it’s corporate and investment banking arm.

Additionally, Societe Generale has been reducing its presence from non-core markets.

This year, it entered agreements to divest its businesses in Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia. It has already completed the sale of its Bulgarian and Albanian units.

Most of these businesses are acquired by Hungarian lender OTP Bank.