SocGén chief says 'resignation no longer on table'

Daniel Bouton, the head of French bank Société Générale, said yesterday he would continue to lead the bank despite having offered his resignation twice following record losses due to a trading scandal.

Mr Bouton said in a newspaper interview published yesterday that his resignation was "no longer on the table".

"I stay, I am the pilot, I drive on," Mr Bouton told the Les Echos daily in an interview.

Asked if he would look at a friendly offer to link up with another bank, he said: "I do not comment on the likelihood of a hostile offer."

"I do not comment on the likelihood of a friendly link-up with a foreign bank, or a French bank, or a state-owned bank. It is not to me to feed the speculation, today no more than yesterday," he added. On January 24, SocGen announced €4.9 billion of losses which it said were due to rogue trades carried out by Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year-old trader at the bank.

To repair its finances, SocGen has launched a fully underwritten €5.5 billion rights issue. The price of the new shares in the rights issue is €47.50 - a steep discount to the bank's recent share price.

Mr Bouton said the roadshows promoting the rights issue in the US and in Europe made him "confident" of its outcome, which he said will be known on March 11.

Société Générale last Thursday confirmed a record fourth-quarter loss after the trading scandal that has made France's second-biggest listed bank a potential takeover target.