While this year several important firms (Total, Axa, Vinci) interrupted their prior split of the chaiman and CEO functions he fund who had made several representations to Société Générale Chairman & CEO Frédéric Oudéa to improve the company’s corporate governance, made a new step ahead to send a signal for the separation of functions.
Long term shareholders generally believe that separating the functions of the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board insures a better control of the strategy and of irs execution. Société Générale lousy yjree years performance and its unclear allocation of profit and responsibilities offers a good target for such message.
The resolution was supported by 9.5 million shares for around 1.2% of the company's capital should have legally led to a vote and broaden the current debate in France as several other companies. However the Board of Société Générale and its highly disappointing new "lead indepedent Director " Tony Wyand - did better : they decided not to obey the law and not to table this external resolution on this challenging issue of the power concentration of functions.
No real surprise from the former chairman of AVIVA France and famous fo its supervision of the Aviva-Afer case which ended this year by a sentencing of teh insurance company by the Cour de Cassation.
Another disappointment for Société Générale shareholders who expressed their new distrust by offering a meager 50.8 % approval to the vote of the bank's CEO Frédéric Oudéa golden parachute...less tahn for Bouton ! Why would you trust this 50.8 % figure when reported by a company which do no longer respects shareholders rights ? Thank you for your support to our campaign for free Internet voting