— Ownership change will not affect operations —
Société Générale Cyprus (SGC) will continue to operate as usual under its present management and structure, remaining under the operational control of Soc Gen Paris, despite a planned ownership change.
Joel Jarry, Société Générale Cyprus General Manager told the Financial Mirror that in July, the bank’s shareholders decided to proceed with the ownership change whereby SG Group would sell its 51% stake in SGC to Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) and Nabil Sehnaoui, the chairman of the bank.
SGBL, in which SG Group has a 19% stake, will control 57% of SG Cyprus while Nabil Sehnaoui will own the remaining 43%. The Sehnaoui family own 81% of SGBL, which has operations in Jordan and an offshore unit in Syria.
“The ownership change is still subject to permission from the central banks of Cyprus and Lebanon,” said Jarry, adding that an application is expected to be submitted in September.
Jarry would not go into the transaction details citing confidentiality issues and the fact that being a private institution, the information is not public, but insists that the ownership change makes a lot of sense since it will centralise and lead to many synergies within SGBL.
In a sign that Société Générale is committed to its Cyprus operations, Jarry revealed that in June, SGC increased its capital by EUR 14 mln to support and enhance its operations here.
No change
“With the exception of the change in ownership, there will be no other changes, with the management and operational functions firmly under the guidance of Paris, which will continue to have responsibility to set limits and control all other operational aspects.”
“SGC will continue to provide its existing retail, corporate and IBU services to clients without any change, cutbacks or alterations according to a new business plan submitted by the management and approved by the shareholders,” said Jarry.
The only change, once the regulatory approvals are received, is that it will be renamed from Société Générale Cyprus to Société Générale de Banque Cyprus (SGBC).
Layoffs
Jarry confirmed that SGC has given redundancy notices to 12 staff at the bank’s head quarters and IBU unit, adding that the decision had been notified to the bank employees’ trade union, Etyk, on June 17.
“The decision to proceed with the 12 redundancies out of a total workforce of 164 has nothing to do with the ownership change and is taking place because of the economic situation and the reduction in economic activity in Cyprus,” said Jarry.
Etyk, which had kept quiet for a long time, has decided to change its strategy and in an attempt to show it still has a say in banking issues has called for a meeting of SGC employees on Thursday, August 13 to discuss the matter and seek staff support to proceed with a new action plan, including the prospect of strike action, if the majority back such a plan.
However, Etyk recently lost face when a Supreme Court decision ruled in favour of employees at the National Bank of Greece setting up their own independent union, at a time when Etyk was trying to force a strike at that bank, despite the employees’ opposition.
Easy Finance
Jarry told the Financial Mirror that Easy Finance, an affiliate of Société Générale Greece, a subsidiary of the SG Group that was active in providing motor purchase leasing and finance services, has closed its operations and is no longer active.
He said that Easy Finance was never directly related to Société Générale Cyprus or Lebanon.
Société Générale Cyprus
Société Générale Cyprus was one of the first International Banking Units to settle in Cyprus in 1985. Today, SGC operates as a fully-fledged local bank with six branches in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and Paralimni.
SGBL is part of the international network of Société Générale, which operates in 77 countries worlwide.
With the Sehnaoui Group as its main shareholder since it was established in 1953, SGBL has 42 branches all over Lebanon, 16 branches in Jordan and an offshore branch in Syria.
