SocGen CEO Sees M&A Prospects Even as Hurdles Remain to EU Deals

Societe Generale SA’s Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea still sees his bank playing a role in consolidation.

“We are among very few banks with capacity to leverage” our businesses, Oudea told investors in London May 7. “We have the size for growing. But let’s be realistic, for the time being there are many obstacles,” to European bank mergers and acquisitions and the lender is also focused on delivering through 2020, he said.

Oudea is signaling the bank may still be interested in consolidation less than two weeks after merger talks between Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG collapsed. The end ...