The Board of Directors expresses its full support to the Group's General Management and employees

The Board of Directors expressed its full support to the Group’s General Management and employees, who are subject to false and misleading attacks. The Board underlines again that, since 2010, the Group has had a Tax Code of Conduct that is fully available to the public. This code, which was approved by the Board of Directors, bans any operation where the purpose would be to act against tax transparency.

For this reason, and without being obliged to do so by the law, the Group decided in 2010 to close all its establishments in countries included on the list of Non-Cooperative States under the terms of French regulation. With regard to companies belonging to clients of the bank, the Group ensures that they are tax transparent and strictly applies anti-money laundering laws.

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Chairman of the Board, repeated that the Board of Directors is especially vigilant to make sure that the Group strictly applies best practices in terms of compliance, particularly in the field of anti-money laundering, including tax evasion. As part of its duties of control, the Board of Directors ensures that there is effective application of these rules.

The Board of Directors and General Management reserve their right to take all the necessary measures, including legal ones, to protect the image of Societe Generale against these attacks.