ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 18 MAY 2016 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS_JUNE 2016 | 7 Why are you now undertaking a major transformation of the Societe Generale network in France, with the closure of administrative centres and branches? While taking all the necessary support measures, we are anticipating unavoidable change. Today, we are building services and structures suited to our customers’ behaviour. We are fully aware of the changes that this transformation implies for our employees. But it is by taking steps today that we will be able to continue to grow tomorrow and meet our customers’ expectations. If we don’t take the initiative now, it will certainly be much more difficult in five or ten years’ time. We want to take action as a socially-responsible company. What are you doing to improve cybersecurity and limit the risk of computer failure? With the development of new technologies, the threat of cybercrime has become one of the principal operational risks facing banks. Cybercrime is not new, but it is gaining ground. We need to be extremely vigilant. We run the risk of fraud, as well as the risk of a leak of important data or of computer failure, which do not necessarily involve fraud. To counter this kind of risk, our aim is to always be one step ahead. We have hundreds of people in the Group working constantly to detect and prevent all types of attack. As for the risk that our IT systems fail or become unavailable, we have been fully aware of this risk for a long time. We address it mainly by measuring the resilience of our IT systems. We also measure their availability rate and have extremely rigorous requirements in this area. Societe Generale was named in the Panama Papers affair. What can you tell us about this? The fight against tax fraud and evasion is a constant preoccupation for Societe Generale group and its teams around the world. Since 2009, countries and their governments have stepped up their cooperation to better organise and coordinate their efforts, and laws have changed considerably in each country. Societe Generale has taken a very proactive approach with a series of initiatives and commitments. For example, in 2010 we introduced a fiscal code of conduct that was approved by the Board of Directors. We respect the regulations, in particular anti-money laundering rules, and have significantly upgraded our compliance and control systems. Governments and the general public are right to be demanding about the fight against tax avoidance. Societe Generale is fully committed to continuing to make an active contribution to these efforts. What is your policy in terms of financing coal-fired power plants? In 2015, we supported the initiatives taken during the COP 21 Climate Conference and made a number of commitments to reduce our financing activities for coal-fired power plants. We also set a goal of doubling our financing of renewable energies. We have announced our principles and strive to adhere to them at all times. Why did you sell your holding in Amundi, the asset management subsidiary you set up with Crédit Agricole in 2010? Amundi is a great success story of the French financial sector. We did a great job with Crédit Agricole. As part of the Group’s policy to reallocate capital, we decided to sell our stake while keeping in place the business agreements we had signed with Amundi and our networks. This generated capital gains and enhanced our core Tier 1 Ratio without having any impact whatsoever on our clients for the next five years. TODAY, WE ARE BUILDING SERVICES AND STRUCTURES SUITED TO OUR CUSTOMERS’ BEHAVIOUR WE ALSO SET A GOAL OF DOUBLING OUR FINANCING OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES
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