Société
Générale ("SocGen") is one of the oldest banks in France, dating back to 1864. The original name was Société Générale pour favoriser le
développement du commerce et de l'industrie en France.
SocGen offers retail and specialised financial services to 30 million customers in France and in 48 countries worldwide. In addition it provides services to companies, investors and private clients.
ownership
listed on NYSE Euronext
Publicly listed
headquarters
29, boulevard Haussmann
75009 Paris
France
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
The CDP impels organisations to record their carbon footprint in daily activities. Encouraging enterprises to calculate and disclose their carbon impact, this initiative highlights the challenge for financial institutions to determine exactly how much carbon output can be attributed to financing.
Voluntary framework to guide the finance sector in tackling the challenge of climate change. They address the management of operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide direction on managing climate change in research activities; asset management; retail banking; insurance & re-insurance; corporate banking; investment banking & markets; project finance.
The EPs are a set of guidelines, based upon the Performance Standards and guidelines from the IFC, the World Bank's private sector lending arm for private banks to asesses and mitigate risks in project finance. Banks use the Principles to guide internal operating procedures for transaction for specific projects. Although the EPs are an important step to raise overall standards of financiers and projects in the developing world, they currently fall short on transparency and governance requirements.
The verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is supported by the EITI. Financial institutions can participate and encourage resource-rich countries to support the initiative that aims to defeat poverty, corruption and conflict caused by weak transparency and accountability.
As the name suggests, the GRI aims to standardise good practice in transparency. GRI provides companies with guidelines to organise their annual report with reporting indices and standards addressing environmental, social and economic issues that business ought to address when telling the world about its performance.
The UN Global Compact is a set of ten principles that companies may sign voluntarily. Signatories promise to avoid complicity in human rights violations, adhere to labour standards, protect the environment and avoid corruption. The G8 countries urge companies to participate in this initiative, and with over 2900 companies signing up, the Global Compact has momentum. A voluntary and network based framework, the Global Compact actively promotes peer review and stakeholder participation.
UNEP is the 'voice of the environment' for the United Nations system, promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment. Issues concerning the financial community are addressed by the UNEP Finance Initiative which promotes investment in clean and renewable energy by financial institutions and other investors. Financial insititutions wishing to join must sign one of two Statements (for financial institutions and a separate one for the insurance industry).
UNPRI is a set of six principles direct institutional investors may adopt to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when investing. Voluntary and aspirational in nature, UNPRI has since its inception in 2006 attracted 200 signatories, representing US$8 trillion worth of investments.
Since the turn of the century a group of twelve banks known as the Wolfsberg Group have collaborated to improve ethical standards. The principles provide guidance on money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism. They have been produced to address deficiencies in areas 'yet to be fully articulated by lawmakers or regulators'.
In 2008 the local government in Russian Kaliningrad region and the Russian state-owned nuclear power corporation "Rosatom" announced a plan to build two nuclear reactors…
On October 5th, 2004 an official agreement was signed between the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc, for the…
In the Canadian Boreal forest just downstream of the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains are the Canadian tar sands. The region contains some 2 trillion barrels of oil,…
Cluster munitions pose a serious threat to civilian populations during and after a conflict. Cluster munitions are designed to blanket a large area containing one or more…
The United States Geological Survey estimates that 30% of the world's undiscovered gas and 13% of the world's undiscovered oil is to be found north of the Arctic Circle.…
The Jaitapur project plans to host two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) of 1,650 MWe each, with possible extension by four additional units. The Generation III+ class…
An offshore oil project in the north Caspian Sea, Kashagan is part of the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), a 40-year contract that was signed in 1997…
The Kusile coal fired power plant project is located in the province of Mpumalanga, in South Africa. With 4800MW, it will be one of the largest power plants of its kind in…
Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume for transportation by ship to destinations…
Eskom is a state-owned enterprise. Established in 1923, it was corporatized from the start, being set up to run on business principles and to deliver cheap and abundance…
Mountain top removal mining is a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to blast as much as 800 to 1000 feet off the tops of mountains order to reach…
The US$1.45 billion Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project, in the small Southeast Asia country of Laos, is supposed to generate revenue for the cash-strapped Lao government by exporting…
The Sakhalin II project in the Russian Far East is said by project sponsors to be the largest integrated oil and gas project in the world. The project involves…
Peru's Camisea gas project was designed to exploit an enormous gas field in the Amazonian region. It consists of 3 components: exploration and extraction at four drilling…
The Grasberg mine, located in the indonesian province of Papua, on the island New Guinea, just north of Australia, is being run by the mining company Freeport McMoran. The…
Sesa Goa is the largest iron ore producer and exporter of Goa. Since 2007 Vedanta Resources is the majority shareholder of Sesa Goa. Sesa Goa's main mining operations are…
Toka Tindung is about 35 km north east of Manado, the capital of the Indonesian Province of North Sulawesi. The project entails the development of six open-pit gold mines…
BankTrack has identified controversial issues
with the companies listed below that require attention from Société Générale.
Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is the world's largest manufacturer of ammunition and a leading supplier of precision systems and electronic warfare. The company is also active…
E.ON is a German electricity company headquartered in Düsseldorf and is another of big beasts of energy production. E.ON operates along the entire value chain of power…
Freeport McMoRan is an international mining company with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Freeport McMoran operates primarily in copper-, gold- and molybdenum mines.Freeport…
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) are the largest electricity producer in India. Their total installed capacity, including that under joint ventures, is close to…
As Europe's second largest electricity generator and one of Europe's five leading gas and electricity companies, this German utility is another of energy and gas production's…
Textron is a multi-industry company, consisting of numerous subsidiaries and operating units. One subsidiary is Textron Systems, which is active in the defence, homeland…
Sweden's state-owned Vattenfall is Europe's fifth largest generator of electricity and largest producer of heat. Vattenfall delivers electricity to around 7.4 million customers…
Vedanta Resources is a mining company. It produces aluminum, copper, lead and zinc. Vedanta has a strong position in India, where its founder Anil Agarwal was born, but is…
Vinci is a leading company involved in concessions and construction, and is operating in around 100 countries. Overall, the company is involved in the designing, building,…
Rapport - Les banques sous pression citoyenne : l'heure de rendre des comptes
Nov 02, 2011 | Les Amis de la Terre / Attac France
Evaluates the practices of the 10 main banking groups operating in France in five areas of their activity : financial stability, their users-customers, their employees, the environment and democracy.
Synthèse - Les banques sous pression citoyenne : l’heure de rendre des comptes
Nov 02, 2011 | Les Amis de la Terre/Attac
Evaluates the practices of the 10 main banking groups operating in France in five areas of their activity : financial stability, their users-customers, their employees, the environment and democracy.
Campaign document asking the French public to send postcards to the biggest French banks : BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole on their climate impacts.
Letter to BankTrack as a response to BT letter of February 11, 2010
Mar 29, 2010 | Equator Principles Financial Insititutions, Citi
The first response ever to one of the letters BankTrack sent to the Equator Principles Financial Insititutions. It is a response to the BankTrack follow up letter after the meeting in Zuerich, February 4.
Using the 2011 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change, investors will advocate for investment grade climate change and energy policies at the national and international level.
Ilisu action against Societe Generale in Paris Nov 18, 2008
videos
Yann Louvel about Les Amis de la Terre and BankTrack
May 19, 2010 - Video shot during the BankTrack annual meeting in Zuerich, January 2010.
Risky Business: the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project
Mar 22, 2010 - The Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project, the largest dam in Laos, was hailed by many as they way to reduce poverty and demonstrate best practice in socially and environmentally responsible dam building, still the initial signs have not been promising...
headquarters
29, boulevard Haussmann
75009 Paris
France
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
International website developed by BankTrack, CRBM, Les Amis de la Terre, Netwerk Vlaanderen, Platform, Setem and Urgewald.
Information in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish.
Based on Les Amis de la Terre main reports on private finance, this educational website presents a profile of French banks, saving products and insurances, and aims at making individuals
aware of the social and environmental impacts of these financial institutions, and at encouraging them to get active in this area of crucial importance.
The website also includes a web calculator, for individual to be able to evaluate the carbon weight of their savings, and to show them how to reduce it by changing their choices of banks and savings products.
