Societe Generale (SocGen) has held discussions with French regulator over the split of chairman and chief executive roles, according to Reuters.
The talk follows the implementation of new EU-wide legislation that mandates banks to keep the two roles separate.
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SocGen is the only bank headed by a combined chairman and CEO, Frederic Oudea, who has considered this structure as the best solution for the bank at the time of crisis.
"We are in contact with the ACPR (France’s banking and insurance regulator) to examine the methods and the timetable for applying the European directiv. Any change over time in the governance of the group will be considered in an organised fashion and respect best practices with regard to corporate governance," Reuters quoted a SocGen spokeswoman as saying.
"We allow exceptions in two cases: either according to proportionality or size, so for small-sized banks depending on their structure or their scope. Or otherwise an exception that simply grants a delay to give the bank time to prepare its reorganisation," the spokeswoman added.
The French banking giant has strived hard to resist pressure from activist investors including PhiTrust and Hermes regarding the splitting of roles.
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By GlobalDataSources said that the regulator had already discussed with lenders regarding this rule back in mid-2013.
