This experienced banker has been chosen to succeed Frédéric Oudéa next year at the head of the third French bank. He caps Sébastien Proto at the post.
By Francois Miguet
© MAEVA DESTOMBES / Hans Lucas via AFP
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IInspector of Finance, moved ahead of Emmanuel Macron from the ENA in 2004, former pillar of the Ministry of the Budget and ex-investment banker: Sébastien Proto ticked all the boxes… of the old world! But it is not he who will succeed Frédéric Oudéa at the head of Société Générale in May 2023, when the latter leaves his post, but his internal rival, Slawomir Krupa, 46, a man with a more technical profile.
It is indeed in favor of the latter that the board of directors of the company, chaired by the Italian Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, former member of the executive board of the European central bank, decided after a meeting this Friday, according to Le Figaro. It’s been weeks since Sébastien Proto and Slawomir Krupa clashed behind the scenes. The first, head of retail banking, joined the group in 2018 directly from Rothschild & Co.
House veteran, and former startuper
The second, deputy director in charge of corporate and investment banking activities, is a veteran of the house since he entered it twenty-six years ago. This graduate of Sciences Po Paris, who left the group for a time to set up a start-up at the height of the internet craze in the late 1990s, climbed the steps to the top one by one, notably occupying the positions of head of strategy and development, number one in investment banking or even head of the Societe Generale Americas division.
For his part, former chief of staff of Valérie Pécresse at the Ministry of the Budget, who remained close to Nicolas Sarkozy, whose economic program he co-designed for the right-wing primary – lost – in 2016, Sébastien Proto, 44, will certainly have was deemed not experienced enough for the job. Even if he recently brought the delicate issue of the merger with Crédit du Nord, which should result in the elimination of 650 agencies and 3,700 jobs.
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Exit the candidates outside the house
Will the character of Sébastien Proto also play against him? In the house, the enarque of the promotion Léopold Sédar Senghor, is known for his touchy temperament. This follower of Thai boxing has the reputation, in the middle of Parisian banks, of being silent, not always easy to understand and sometimes brittle.
The appointments committee, made up of four members and chaired by the former boss of GDF-Suez Gérard Mestrallet, therefore seems to have ruled out any profile from outside. What, once again, to feed its image of “citadel”, to use the terms of a large competing banker.
One thing is certain: the new CEO will have a lot to do. The third French bank by balance sheet size behind BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole has seen its stock market valuation fall by 25% over the past year. And despite the rise in interest rates, which usually favors banking institutions, the context of the economic crisis in Europe should make 2023 a very turbulent year.