56 Comments
 

Definitely. They are huge internationally in commercial and retail banking, but still a top 25 shop. They would probably be healthier if not for Kerviel.

 

They want to be a strong player in M&A in a near future. They hired Thierry D'argent, former head of M&A France at JPM. He brought his desk along and he planned (or hired i don't know) various recruitments. Currently, SocGen is good for ECM / DCM / Loans syndics / Structured Finance but they're putting money on the table to hire top execs in their M&A teams.

 

"The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal reports that Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Bank is looking to hire up to 1,200 front-office and client facing staff over the next 3 years."

"A SG source has told Here Is The City that the 1,200 new hire target is accurate, although the only specific details available at present are that the bank will beef up fixed income front office by 200 and investment banking by the same amount in the next 3 years."

http://news.hereisthecity.com/news/business_news/10859.cntns

-------------------------------------------------- "Whenever I'm about to do something, I think, 'Would an idiot do that?' And if they would, I do NOT do that thing." -Dwight Schrute, "The Office"-
 

[quote=BespokeAnalyst2010]"The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal reports that Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Bank is looking to hire up to 1,200 front-office and client facing staff over the next 3 years."

"A SG source has told Here Is The City that the 1,200 new hire target is accurate, although the only specific details available at present are that the bank will beef up fixed income front office by 200 and investment banking by the same amount in the next 3 years."

http://news.hereisthecity.com/news/business_news/10859.cntns[/quote]

very nice. + 1for a good find

 

SG is better known as a powerhouse in equity derivatives, that's the capital markets side of the business.... Then, in pure investment banking, they are not bad in M&A in Europe and are really willing to build up a strong franchise after they realized they were too focused on capital markets (kerviel, Madoff, etc...).

It's not a Lazard, Rothschild or big US franchise, so no huge brand attractiveness on that business part but at least you are sure there is only upside potential. From my perspective (I'm french), SG always put the means needed to reach their target.

 

May I ask which city in China? Standalone foreign banks are not allowed to do investment banking business in mainland unless it's a venture with a domestic securities firm (See GSGH, UBSS etc). Therefore I suspect your role will be in commercial banking, and from the name "Export Finance" the first thing goes into my mind is trade financing which is definitely commercial banking role that deals with L/C and stuff. Is this the case? If so it really provides minimal added value for your BB applications.

 

SGCIB is a global leader in export finance with recognized expertise in 23 export credit programs. The business line has strong presence in Asia with dedicated teams in Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, India and Vietnam.

The bank is the first foreign bank to arrange Chinese ECA financing with the support of Sinosure. With 16 deals signed, SGCIB has the most extensive experience and largest track record with Sinosure. We are also a leader in the Korean ECA market with over 30 deals signed. SGCIB is a pioneer in arranging shipping transactions with the support of KEIC (Korea) and JBIC/NEXI (Japan).

 

LOL WSO should be called M&AO ;)

The Export Finance department delivers financing solutions, risk coverage and advisory services related to import or export contracts whose underlying assets are capital goods, equipment and/or services to companies and financial institutions around the world.

 

Export Finance group would be one or two steps up from plain vanilla trade finance/commercial banking as it deals with underwriting major ECA-backed deals (usually infra, energy, transportation) which may or may not have a structured finance component (asset-backed etc). Look at major recent deals backed by Chinese ECAs to get an idea what transactions you would work on. Depending on the deal/structure you could get some exposure to modeling which would be useful in the future.

 

What I can tell you is that Export Finance is within Global Finance, which includes ECM / DCM / Leverage & Non investment grade Finance / Strategic & Acquisition Finance / Media & Telecom Finance / Ship & Aircraft Finance & other Structured Finance departments. Another thing to know, SocGen's former Graduate analysts in Investment Banking had to choose three rotations among Structured Fi / Capital Markets & M&A, so you would be able to justify your internship in a way or another

 

I would have loved to work in project finance or in export finance. Shame that my bank doesn't really do it.

__________ Just my 2c.
 

Kids - do you think the glass ceiling is really an issue at the stage you're at in your career? Methinks not.

SG is puzzling... HSBC tried and failed to become an investment banking powerhouse; Credit Agricole was supposed to push into advisory / M&A and failed. Barcap was going nowhere fast but Lehmans purchase in the US has given it the impetus it needed. So jury's out.

From the ghetto....
 

You can expect the firm to have a French culture - aka very laid back, slow, and bogged down by processes. French firms don't typically give too many return offers due to the way they work - what happens for interns is that they hire VIEs from France, who are basically extended (often a year or so) interns, so they always take first priority.

Don't expect to move up the ranks unless you're French. I know it's a very bleak outlook but it's the truth and I have firsthand experience in the matter. Though, if you're looking for a stepping stone, it's a good choice since SocGen is decently well known.

 

you posted on a saturday night dude relax... you aren't an Associate giving orders to your analyst relax you will get your answers soon enough

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

In the US, they run almost all their operations out of NYC. They're a big bank internationally, but in the US, you can consider them an MM bank, since those are the deals they compete for.

Pay is in line with street. 1st year Analyst pay is 70k, with 10 for signing. Hours are what you'd typically expect from any other bank on the street. It's not easy street, but it's not Moelis-level sweatshop either.

 
Best Response

In fact, there is a group called Global Finance. In that group you find Capital Market Finance (CMF) Client Management Unit (CMU) Emerging Markets, Environment and Sustainable Development (EME) Export Finance (EXT) Flow Banking Services (FBS) Global Capital Markets (GCM) (ECM & DCM) Infrastructure & Asset Based Finance (IAB) Interest Rates & Forex Derivatives (IFD) Leveraged & Non Investment Grade Finance (LNI) Natural Resources & Energy Finance (NAT) Real Estate & Lodging Finance (REL) Strategic & Acquisition Finance (SAF) Syndication (SYN) WOK (WOK)

This is how it is structured in France at least. It may be different in the rest of the world however, DCM is for investment grade bonds, LNI for High yield Loan syndication is something completly different since they lend the money of the bank. They don't raise equity or issue debt in the market like ECM, DCM, LNI

 

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