SocGen to Cut Investment Bank Bonuses 20% After Trading Losses

(Bloomberg) -- Societe Generale SA will cut the bonus pool at its investment bank by about 20%, after trading hits in 2020 handed the group its first losing year in more than three decades.

Across the company, payouts are being reduced by an average of 15%, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing confidential matters.

SocGen’s markets unit, which posted a net loss last year, saw even bigger pay reductions, with some equity derivatives traders facing a bonus cut of more than 80%, another person said.

The sweeping cuts cap a damaging year for Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea, who has seen shares of the French lender slump by more than two thirds since he took over in 2008. SocGen’s payouts are likely to be among the lowest among global investment banks after most peers seized on the pandemic market swings to deliver trading and deal-making gains.

The bank’s traditionally-robust equity trading unit delivered a 49% revenue drop in 2020. On Wall Street, investment banks posted double-digit gains and bonuses to match.

Read More: Traders Set to Win Spoils in Europe’s Uneven Bank Bonus Days

A spokesman for SocGen declined to comment on the bonuses.

European banks have been urged by regulators to show constraint in their bonus policy after receiving unprecedented support to weather the crisis. Last month, Deutsche Bank AG had to scale back on its payout plan after the European Central Bank objected to the proposed levels.

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