Building blocks of Corporate Governance
Board of Directors
Société Générale is a public limited company (société anonyme) with a Board of Directors. From May 13, 2008 until Daniel Bouton’s resignation on May 6, 2009, the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer were kept separate. On May 6, 2009, the Board of Directors decided to once again merge the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to ensure a tighter governance structure that is able to respond faster and better to the challenges of today's economic and financial crisis. Frederic Oudea was appointed in this capacity with effect from May 24, 2009.Didier Alix and Severin Cabannes were confirmed in their roles of Deputy Chief Executive Officers. Philippe Citerne retired and left his position as Deputy Chief Executive Officer on April 30, 2009, and Didier Alix retired on November 30, 2009. In addition to Severin Cabannes also retaining his current position, Bernardo Sanchez Incera and Jean-Francois Sammarcelli were appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officers as of January 1, 2010.
The powers of the Chairman are stated in article 2 of the Board of Directors’ internal rules. The Chairman convenes and chairs the Board of Directors and oversees its responsibilities and work. He also chairs the General Meetings of Shareholders.
On May 6, 2009, the Board of Directors also decided to create the position of Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. This position was entrusted to Anthony Wyand, who is also Chairman of the Audit Committee (now the Audit, Internal Control and Risk Committee) and a member of the two other Committees. The role of the Vice-Chairman is to assist the Chairman in his tasks, “notably the organisation and sound functioning of the Board of Directors and other Committees, and the supervision of corporate governance, internal control and risk management”.