Société Générale to make 120 redundancies in London

2020 is beginning as 2019 ended - with cost cutting and redundancies. French bank Société Générale is understood to be cutting 120 staff from the middle and back office in London.

A spokeswoman for the French bank said the cuts follow, "a dedicated review to deliver more sustainable and profitable growth," and that a consultation programme has already been launched. "The UK platform is a key business for Societe Generale and it remains committed to its clients, both in the UK and internationally from the UK,” she added. 

The cuts follow last week's announcement of SocGen's fourth quarter and full year results for 2019. The bank said its plan to cut costs by €1.1bn was 70% complete by the end of last year, implying an additional €330m of cost cuts to come in 2020.

When SocGen has made staff cuts in the past, it has offered very generous voluntary redundancy packages. It's not clear whether these will also be available on this occasion. 

SocGen won't be the only bank cutting support staff in 2020. Deutsche also still has cuts to make and is expected to focus on the middle and back office this year.

Photo by Alexei Scutari on Unsplash

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