French lender Societe Generale has decided to split the roles of chairman and CEO at its annual shareholders’ meeting on 19 May 2015.

Under EU’s latest Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV), all banks in Europe are required to have different people in these two roles.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Complying by this directive, Societe Generale has named Lorenzo Bini Smaghi to chair its board of directors.

Frederic Oudea, who held the roles of CEO and chairman since 2009, will continue his position as the chief executive.

Smaghi is an Italian economist who served as an executive board member of the European Central Bank from June 2005 to December 2011.

He is currently designated as the second vice chairman of the board of Societe Generale. In his new role, Smaghi will be based in Rome.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Smaghi’s earlier roles include managing director of international financial relations at Italy’s Ministry of the Economy and Finances and head of the Bank of Italy.

Societe Generale in a statement said, "This change in corporate governance, prepared in 2014, meets the requirements applicable to banks in Europe."

The bank earlier said that unification of the two roles in 2009 was "in order to obtain a more efficient and reactive governance and to be able to respond to the challenges of the crisis."