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THE KEY ROLE OF COMPLIANCE

Compliance is taking part of the Group Culture

The key role of compliance

Compliance and adherence to ethical rules that meet the profession’s highest standards are part of the Societe Generale Group’s core values. These values are shared by all of its staff and not just by a handful of experts.
The Group has developed a strict body of compliance procedures and rules of good conduct. Moreover, these rules go beyond current legal and regulatory provisions, particularly in countries that do not meet Societe Generale’s own ethical standards.
In the banking sector, compliance practices are based on the following basic principles:
  • refusing to work with customers or counterparties about whom it is not possible to gather enough information to meet due diligence standards,
  • knowing how to assess the economic legitimacy of a transaction,
  • being able to justify an adopted position under any circumstances.
In line with these principles, the Group:
  • does not carry out transactions in certain countries, and does not enter into relations with individuals or businesses whose activities fall outside of the law or are contrary to the principles of responsible banking,
  • refuses to conduct transactions for clients or counterparties if it is unable to determine the economic legitimacy of these transactions, or where the lack of transparency suggests they may be contrary to accounting and compliance principles,
  • provides information that is accurate, clear and not misleading on the products and services it proposes and verifies that said products and services are suited to customer needs,
  • has established a “right to alert” which can be exercised by any employee who believes they have good reason to think that an instruction received, a potential transaction or, in general, a given situation is not in compliance with the rules that govern the conduct of the Group’s activities.
Societe Generale has very strict rules on the prevention of corruption which are included in its Code of Conduct and comply fully with French legislation. Information concerning obligatory measures and controls has been disseminated and applied throughout the Group since 2001 in the form of instructions which are updated on a regular basis.