Société Générale Société anonyme (GLE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

At Société Générale, we must build a better and sustainable future, providing sustainable and innovative solutions. Thanks to the Board, 85,000 employees thought out solutions contributing to positive transformations by supporting the projects that those who will make the world of tomorrow. Our corporate purpose expresses the group's commitments, its clients, employees, financial partners and the ecosystem at large. In 2021, guided by its corporate purpose, Société Générale continue to integrate CSR in its offers and financial products: sustainable loans for companies, a new breed of sustainable savings or products for private investors, financing up to EUR 550,000 to help each client for an environmental-friendly solution. The corporate purpose was the purpose set by the group to deliver with its clients a solution that will bring value. Retail Banking in France seeks to create the bank of tomorrow rooted in the territory, close to its clients' needs. This will give rise to sustainable mobility solutions, contributing to major trends in uses. Digitization to new uses will enable businesses to create simplified solutions. Developing new ESG solutions and standards. We can meet the increasing needs to support our clients through these transitions. On top of this, our corporate purpose reflects Société Générale's wish to be a trusted partner committed for the future. Territories are supported by the teams. Young people are helped by the C'est vous l'avenir Foundation. The group supports industries and sectors by aligning gradually its portfolios on scenarios to target an overall carbon neutrality by 2050. Huge challenges to build the future. Our corporate purpose will guide our strategic choices and the action of all the employees to finance, ensure and support sustainable growth driving social and environmental progress. So I'm very happy to find you here in the normal circumstances at this meeting. Let me first thank you for your loyalty because throughout these years and even today, we kept a high quorum. It is now time to open this combined general meeting, ordinary and extraordinary, which has been held on first notice according to a notice published in the Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires and in Petites Affiches on April 11, 2021 (sic) [ April 11, 2022 ]. The provisional quorum is 54.78%, meaning 436,600,112 shares for 25,135 shareholders with voting rights owned by the shareholders present in person or by proxy. That is a figure higher than the required quorum of 1/4 for an extraordinary general meeting. The meeting can therefore deliberate validly. The final quorum will be announced to you just before the vote on the resolutions. All written questions and answers are available on the General Assembly website. Around me onstage to answer your questions are Frederic Oudea, CEO; Diony Lebot and Philippe Aymerich, Deputy CEOs. In the front row of the room are, in addition to the members of the Board of Directors, the 3 Deputy General Managers: Gaelle Olivier, Chief Operating Officer in charge of resources, digital transformation and innovation; also Slawomir Krupa in charge of GBIS; Sebastien Proto in charge of the French Retail Networks and Private Banking. During our meeting, we will have an update on the results by Claire Dumas; an update on the strategy by our CEO, Frederic Oudea; a specific agenda item on CSR and energy transition by Diony Lebot; An update on corporate governance by Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Nominations Committee, and myself; an update on compensation by Jérôme Contamine, Chairman of the Appointments Committee; and the debate and a vote on the different resolutions, which will be presented by Patrick Suet. We can now proceed to the constitution of the bureau of our general meeting. The 2 shareholders who accepted the function and who have the largest number of votes either in the own right or as practice have been appointed as sellers, Ms. [indiscernible] representing BNP Paribas Asset Management; and Madam [indiscernible] representing Amundi. I thank them warmly for their agreement, and I propose that Patrick Suet be appointed Secretary of the meeting, Patrick Suet be the Secretary of the Board of Directors to my right. The statutory auditors were convened in accordance with legal and statutory requirements. They are Mr. Micha Missakian, representing Ernst & Young, et al.; and Mr. Jean-Marc Mickeler, representing Deloitte and Associate. Finally, I have the usual documents available on the desk of the assembly, the list of which is displayed. Let me add that the documents prior to the meeting -- let me add that the legal documents and information, which constitute documentation prior to the meeting and which are also listed and regularly posted in the Société Générale website and sent to shareholders or made available to them at the Société Générale administrative headquarters. As every year, our debates are broadcast live on the Internet and will be accessible on our website. You can also follow them by phone. Before I give the floor to the general management, I'd like to introduce this meeting with a few messages. First of all, I would like to express our emotion and our support to our employees in Ukraine. They have been invaded for 3 years (sic) [ months ] now and [ multiplying human dramas ], a source of destruction for the country. Circumstances have led us to decide to cease the disposal of our activity in Russia, where we had developed a Retail Banking business. This decision has significant financial consequences to which Claire Dumas will return later on. But it is also the end of an entrepreneurial adventure that had not yet borne all its fruits. I thanks all those who have contributed to it. I must also say that 2021 was a record year for the group and a year of profound transformation, very strong strategic milestones in Retail Banking, Investment Banking and Financial Services. Frederic Oudea, the great architect of this transformation, will talk to you about it. Finally, I would like to thank our customers for their loyalty as well as our employees who, while the COVID crisis was still very much with us, were able to adapt and demonstrate their trust in the group. As every year, we have conducted a survey with individual shareholders in preparation for this general meeting. As every year, the results, the strategy and the dividend are your topics of interest. Obviously, this year, the situation in Ukraine and Russia are at the heart of your concerns. We have taken all of these sub-topics into account. We have also taken into account your questions about the energy transition and its impact on the group. We will devote a detailed presentation to this issue later on. For the good organization of our debates, I'd like to point out that at the entrance there are staff members to answer any questions you may have as customers. I would also like to point out that if this meeting is broadcast on the Internet, we are careful to respect each and every one of you by not broadcasting images of participants attending the general meeting, including those who ask questions. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time to give the floor to Claire Dumas, Group CFO, who will present results for 2021. Claire, over to you.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to come back to the 2021 in review and then comment briefly on the first quarter results. After a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences on the economy, 2021 ended with a record net income for Société Générale. This remarkable performance confirms the relevance and resilience of the group's diversified and balanced model. The group posted for 2021 underlying net income of EUR 5.3 billion, corresponding to a return on tangible net assets of over 10%. The accounting net income was EUR 5.6 billion, including the capital gain realized on the sale of Lyxor's activities. This excellent performance is the result of a mix of 3 factors: strong business momentum resulting in increased revenues for all trades -- all business lines, disciplined cost management and significant improvement in operating leverage and the low cost of risk and prudent risk management, in particular, by maintaining a high level of statistical provisions on healthy loans. In this context, the group achieved all its annual financial targets; a strong positive jaws effect, thanks to a marked increase in revenues and costs whose growth remained contained; a cost of risk, which at 13 basis points on average over the year, was significantly below our initial expectations; and the capital ratio, which at 13.7% at the end of the year, is 470 basis points above our regulatory requirements. Now this leads the group to propose an attractive distribution to shareholders. Firstly, at the end of 2021, we completed a share buyback program for an amount of approximately EUR 470 million. For fiscal year 2021, we propose a cash dividend of EUR 1.65 per share, which will be submitted to the [ Board ] at the general meeting. That is an amount of share that is significantly higher than last year. And the share buyback program of approximately EUR 950 million, equivalent to EUR 1.1 per share, subject to the validation process underway with the European Central Bank and the renewal of the resolutions proposed to this general meeting. This is a total distribution equivalent to EUR 2.75. The group's operating performance was excellent in 2021 marked by strong business dynamics, commercial dynamics in all business lines. Financing & Advisory activities had their best year ever. This is also the case for financial services for businesses, notably to ALD. Market activities achieved a very strong performance, reaching a level of revenues of EUR 5 billion, 11% higher than before the crisis in 2019, validating the relevance of this strategy initiated in 2020, and more specifically, the repositioning of our market activities finalized in early 2021. In Retail Banking, revenues are up in the various regions, thanks to the gradual end of the COVID crisis and an economic rebound in most of the countries where we operate. This has resulted in a rebound in net interest margin and a sustained increase in fees and commissions. The strong growth in revenues of more than 16% of accompanied by rigorous management of our underlying costs, up moderately by 4.3%. This resulted in a significant improvement in the group's cost-income ratio to 67% in 2021, 3.6 points below the 2019 level. Both factors led to a significant increase in gross operating income to EUR 8.5 billion in 2021, up 51% compared to 2020. Before we return to the financial results for the first quarter, let's take a moment to look at the situation of the group in Russia. During the first quarter, the group decided to leave Russia in an effective and orderly manner and to manage in extinction its offshore assets, that is exposures located outside Russia with Russian counterparties or whose activity is largely in Russia. We expect this disposal to be finalized very soon. Upon the sale, we will communicate on this final impact. But based on the latest estimates made at the end of February with the ruble rate of 85, this transaction should have a limited impact of 6 basis points. In addition, taking into account the 14 basis points already taken into account in the first quarter with a net loss on other assets of approximately EUR 3.1 billion. At the same time, the group has undertaken to reduce its offshore exposure, which is now managed on an extinguishment basis. No new transactions have therefore been concluded. At the end of March, its exposure amounted to EUR 2.8 billion compared with EUR 2.2 billion at the end of 2021. [ It made the concerns ] financing transactions such as the Financing & Advisory activity within the Corporate & Investment Banking division and Investor Solutions. Many of these transactions are secured by insurance. For example, guarantees granted by export credit agencies or collateral or bank guarantees. These exposures represent according to our best estimate the maximum amount of risk of less than EUR 1 billion. At this stage, we have not experienced any default on this portfolio aside from the counterparty sanctioned. Regarding market activities with our Russian counterparties, we have started to unwind them in the early days of the crisis. This was done with minimal financial impact, and at the end of March, the digital market exposure to external Russian parties was negligible. I would now like to return to the financial results for the first quarter of 2022. In terms of business dynamics, they are in line with those of 2021. However, the sudden change in the geopolitical context at the end of February and its consequences on the economy have resulted in an increase in the cost of risk. In the first quarter, underlying net income amounted to EUR 1.57 billion with an ROTE of nearly 12%. Revenues are up sharply by more than 16% compared to the first quarter of 2021, driven by a commercial dynamic that can be observed in all businesses. ALD posted a record performance. All Investment Banking businesses achieved an excellent performance in very volatile markets, the best overall performance since 2019. The Retail Banking business continued to benefit from the economic rebound and from rates in Central Europe rising. Costs remained under control with an underlying cost-income ratio that improved by 7 points as compared to last year at 56.4%, excluding the contribution to the Single Resolution Fund. Our reported costs are affected by the sharp rise in the contribution to the Single Resolution Fund, which is up by almost 50% compared with last year. As a reminder, the constitution of this fund will be completed by the end of 2023. The cost of risk remain contained at 39 basis points over the period and 60% pertains to our exposure to Russia. Excluding divested activities, the cost of risk was 31 basis points. Provisions on healthy loans accounted for 45% to the cost of risk. We anticipate the cost of risk for the year up between 30 and 35 basis points. Capital levels for the first quarter remained strong at 12.9% of core Tier 1 or 370 basis points above the regulatory requirement. We confirm the objective of maintaining our core Tier 1 ratio between 200 and 250 basis points above the regulatory requirement.

Thank you, Claire. I now hand over to the auditor, Jean-Marc Mickeler.

Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, let me first summarize the audit report on the consolidated financial statements and the financial statements submitted to you. We must obtain reasonable assurance about the fairness, sincerity and the fair image of the financial statements and the absence of any anomalies. We certify without any reservations the consolidated financial statements and annual financial statements drawn up by your Board. For the consolidated financial statements, apparent and without calling into question our opinion, we draw attention to Note 1.7 of the appendices on reprocessing them in 2021 with respect to the consolidated financial statements for 2020. This exposes the impact of corrections following the restatement of compensation between assets and liabilities and -- with respect to IAS 19. Regarding the annual financial statements and without calling into question our opinion once again, we draw attention to Note 1.5 of the appendix, exposing the retroactive impact of the change in accounting method with respect to assessment and accounting for pension benefits and similar commitments; and Note 3.2, on corrections following from the correction between assets and financial liabilities. With the health situation, the conditions were particular for auditing the accounts. In this complex and changing environment, we note in our report the key points with respect to any significant anomalies, which, in our opinion, were the most significant for this year's audit. Four these key points being on the consolidated financial statements and the individual financial statements, I'm referring to the impairment of credits, asset -- deferred tax assets in France and the U.S., complex financial instruments and IT risk linked to market activities. Two key points of the audit bear only on the consolidated financial segments, the coverage of interest rates in Retail Banking in France and spreads -- acquisition goodwill. In the individual financial statements, we have long-term securities and savings in linked companies. With respect to the management of the group, we have no objections with respect to the sincerity and the match with the consolidated financial statements. With respect to individual financial statements, we have no other comments apart from the specific verifications provided by law with respect to information communicated to shareholders, and notably, the report on corporate governance and the management report. We also ensure that the presentation of the consolidated and annual financial statements, including the financial report, are fully compliant with the electronic -- the European unique electronic format. Let me now summarize our special report on regulated agreements for 2021. We must communicate to you based on the information given to us the characteristics, the main modalities and justifications of the interest for your company's of the agreements reported or which we discussed in performance of our tasks without addressing the utility, whether or not they're well founded or looking for the existence of any other agreements. In this respect, we were not informed of any authorized agreement carried out or signed during the period or any agreement that was approved by the general meeting and which continued during the past year. Let me now move on to reports bearing on capital delegation authorities that you have proposed to give to your Board through Resolutions 18, 19, 20 and 21. So as to optimize the issue of different capital instruments, do not call for any particular observations on our part with respect to the principal. But the final conditions for these issues have not yet been set, and we therefore not express any opinions on these conditions or on the [ suppression ] of preferential subscription rights in Resolutions 19 and 21. We will issue additional opinions when these have been issued. The attribution of existing shares or shares to be issued to employees are in Resolutions 22 and 23. The terms proposed are in compliance with the law and do not call for any comments on our part. Lastly, our report on the authorization granted to the Board to carry out a reduction in capital by share buyback as provided for by Resolution 24 did not call for an observations on our part since they are compliant with laws and regulations. This brings to an end the summary of the work carried out by the auditors. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you. Thank you very much indeed for all the work you accomplished. We are now going to move on to the strategy. And the floor is over to you, Mr. Frederic Oudea.

Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, it is such a great pleasure to see you again. After those 2 years, welcome to the general assembly. I would like to welcome our new shareholders who are with us for the very first time. So the objective of my intervention will be to review the highlights of 2021, to comment on the particularly strong and recent news on the company at the beginning of the year and present the main elements on the company's strategy between now and 2025. So we had an exceptional 2021 in 2 respects. As Claire just said, we've had the best financial results on record. I won't come back to that. 2022 started off very well, as well as Claire said, but secondly, we have made a major strategic progress. This is the result of work that has been underway for quite some time. I think this testifies of the bank's potential and our development opportunities. The first strategic progress is the merger between Société Générale and the Crédit du Nord networks. This project was launched in January 2021. As you can see on this slide, you have some information on this combination with the first objective being to specify the new model of the detailed organization of the retail bank in France. So these elements were announced back in October. So the projects and the new bank are based on 4 key principles, which I would like to remind you of. The first one is a principle of a complete merger of the 2 retail banks, Crédit du Nord and Société Générale. After the merger, there will be 1 network, a single head office and a single IT system to serve our customers. The second principle is that of a strong local presence with 11 regions with reinforced responsibility and a strong territorial network of 1,415 branches. And you will notice that the new brand system for the Retail Banking in France, which has recently been unveiled, reflects this ambition with a new national brand, SG, combined with 10 regional Crédit du Nord brands. The third principle is that of a transformed customer experience. Our ambition is to adapt more closely to the specific needs of each customer category by reinforcing our expertise as bankers; improving customer experience, both in our branches -- on our digital platforms or on the phone. We need to become more responsible, more accessible, simply more efficient. The fourth principle is a principle of acceleration of our CSR commitments in order to have ever more positive impacts in territories and manage our employees even more responsibly. And in connection with that, I would like to insist on the fact that we are respecting to all the commitments we made in 2020, including the one that would -- do not leave any city when we merge Crédit du Nord and Société Générale branches and without any forced departures, again, in accordance with responsible employer policy. The second strategic evolution is the implementation of the partnership agreement between Boursorama and ING. So we've been developing since 2014, starting pretty much from scratch, the leader in online banking in France. 2021 was a record year for Boursorama with the acquisition of more than 800,000 new customers, and Boursorama now has over 3.3 million customers. So we also saw in ING's decision to close Retail Banking operations in France an opportunity to move forward and accelerate and consolidate our position as the leading online bank in France. So we, therefore, worked on setting up a partnership agreement with ING. This partnership was negotiated in 2021 and finalized in 2022. It aims at offering ING customers in France the best alternative banking solution with a dedicated path and support conditions. Boursorama is now targeting between 4 million and 4.5 million customers by the end of 2021, which puts it a year ahead of the schedule. The third strategic evolution is the acquisition of LeasePlan by our subsidiary, ALD. Like Boursorama, we've been investing in ALD's development for years. ALD manages automotive or car fleets, and we acquired it in 2021. And in 2017, it became a listed company with the aim of giving us the means for future consolidation. The acquisition of LeasePlan will create a global leader in mobility solutions. To put it simply, this is the largest acquisition project in the company's history. So again, we negotiated this deal in 2021 and announced it in January 6, 2022. The final MOA was signed on -- MOU, sorry, was signed in April 2022 -- April 22, sorry. It confirms the terms of the transaction, which has been communicated previously. And I think that the acquisition of LeasePlan demonstrates our level of ambition in the mobility sector. The combined entity will particularly be well positioned to take advantage of the strong growth of this market, driven by 3 long-term trends. First of all, the changes in customer behavior and usage, electrification of fleets and the increasing use of new technologies and data. So the new company will have greater investment capabilities, unique expertise and strong positioning in all market segments. So this transaction is expected to be closed by the end of the year and should generate additional profitability for the company. So this is our jargon, probably more -- plus 80 basis points. So that's about 1% with the -- and the capital impact should be limited, 40 basis points at closing. And we will remain the majority shareholder of the new entity with a stake of approximately 53% at closing. So in addition to these 3 strategic changes, we've presented and started the execution of our new road map for Corporate banking and Investor Solution activities in our GBIS division. So we've structurally reduced our risks in capital market activities and have started to rebalance our activities, in particular towards financing and consulting. We've also completed our disposal program with the disposal -- successful disposal of Lyxor to Amundi, which took place in very satisfactory conditions. In International Retail Banking, we defined a number of ambitious road maps as well for KB, BRD as well as our African operations. We have a long-standing presence in these regions and these regions offer recurring growth and profitability opportunities. Our objective is to help them consolidate their positions and support them in their digitization and efficiency objectives, very much in line with what we do in France. On more cross-functional issues, we've also successfully continued to consolidate our compliance and internal control systems. This has led the U.S. DOJ to definitely drop 2 legal proceedings against us. You will probably remember these are very old cases concerning, first of all, suspected corruption cases, and on the other hand, failures in the application of U.S. economic sanctions. So we've also made significant and continued progress in digital. Last but not least, we have confirmed our leadership in positive transformation of the world, quite simply. In 2021, Société Générale was awarded a unique set of recognition in the industry. The last one was the nomination as, in English, Bank of the Year for Sustainability. So sustainable banking by IFR, which is the International Financing Review. This is the most prestigious type of recognition coming from the industry. So on behalf of the entire management team and Board, I would like to thank all our teams who have contributed to the achievement of these results and to the success of all the projects. This was a very active and busy year for all. And as a result of these achievements, this is something that is going to interest you, Société Générale's share price rose from EUR 18 at the beginning of the year to EUR 35 in 2021. So this bullish rally was interrupted at the beginning of 2022 by the events in Ukraine, and above all, the very significant fears that have been weighing on the environment with the perspectives of stagflation. As far as dividends are concerned, the group will offer an attractive return to its shareholder in 2021, 50% of the underlying net income of the company, which is EUR 2.75 per share. So a cash dividend. And we also have share buyback. Sometimes share buyback programs are not understood very well. The total is EUR 915 million. This is the equivalent of EUR 1.1 per share. And please allow me to remind you that a share buyback is a way to strengthen earnings per share in the years to come because you calculate the total net income and you divide that by fewer shares. So the environment at the beginning of 2022, unfortunately, is as planned, but in many respects, more chaotic than in 2021. So Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 marked the beginning of a new international crisis. And at this point, the full impact of this crisis is difficult to measure. In the immediate future, the crisis is causing terrible human drama. It also exerts many tensions on energy and raw materials and is contributing to raising the level of inflation in the long term. It, of course, raises concerns about Europe's sovereignty, its defense with already significant effects on European -- the European integration, the configuration of a number of value change and the energy transition. More globally, the world is probably entering a new cycle marked, on the geopolitical side, by the emergence of real fractures and fragmentations; on the economic and financial front, the perspective of a sustained inflation and an increase in interest rates. We may lead a move out of negative rates with potentially a recession. And on a societal level, there are profound transformation linked to the energy transition and a growing use of new technologies. So we do have 2 relatively encouraging types of news. First of all, the results of the first quarter of 2022, which confirms the resilience of our model with sustained performance in all businesses, in all geographies, improved operating leverage and contained cost of risk. Claire mentioned this before. The second is that I think we managed to deal with the turbulences linked to the crisis in Russia. But beyond just numbers, I would like to say that in the first hours of the conflict, our #1 priority was to ensure the safety of our teams, especially in Ukraine. We had 60 colleagues working in Ukraine. And we have to support our teams as well as our customers who are facing real difficulties. And we also made sure so as to scrupulously implement all international sanction sanctions and measures and defined a new and prudent management approach for all our activities. And then very quickly came the question of our strategy in Russia. As a promoter of our development in Russia, up to then, I had been deeply convinced of the geopolitical and economic interest of Europe and Russia to develop deep and lasting relations. The invasion of Ukraine in February put an end to the prospects of harmonious relations. And I very quickly proposed to the Board that we dispose of Rosbank. And the challenge, of course, was to find a takeover solution in order for us to withdraw in an effective and orderly manner while ensuring continuity for Rosbank's customers and employees. So with few options available and time being decisive, we very quickly opted to dispose of the entire stake in Rosbank and its subsidiaries to Interros Capital, which is one of the largest investment companies in Russia and the previous shareholder of Rosbank. So as you can imagine, this was a very difficult and painful decision to make, but I consider that it was probably the best one for all stakeholders given the circumstances. So this disposal should be closed very soon. And it will have a high cost with the losses recorded, as Claire mentioned, but a limited capital impact. Capital is our ability to develop in the future. So it will not have a negative impact on the company's development capabilities. So the new global order, which is more complex, more uncertain does not call into question our strategic orientations. As a matter of fact, it confirms its relevance, the relevance of the choices we've made, and it only reinforces the legitimacy of the transition already underway. So our priority for the next 4 quarters is the execution of our road map with a focus on the implementation of a new, transformed and balanced business model offering perspectives of sustainable and profitable growth. So this model will gradually be built on 3 pillars: Retail Banking and Insurance in France and internationally, Corporate & Investment Banking and mobility. On the first pillar, Retail Banking and Insurance. In France, first of all, our top priority is to prepare and secure the next key milestones with the legal merger in January 2023 then the IT migrations that will take place the first half of 2023. In France also, we will continue to support Boursorama's development and consolidate our position as the leading online bank in France. In 2023, Boursorama will enter a new phase of its development with 1 objective, which is to reach full maturity in France and high-level profitability in 2024 and 2025. In International Retail Banking and Insurance, we have selective presence with leading positions in attractive markets in Europe and in Africa. Our objective there, again, will be to maintain the development and transformation objectives defined for these entities. In particular, the Czech Republic, Romania, and of course, our African operations. On the second pillar, Corporate & Investment Banking. We've had 5 consecutive semesters with excellent performance. We want to become a leading European corporate and investment bank. We plan to implement our strategic road map, which is already showing very satisfactory results. And in particular, we are aiming for a more proactive support to our customers in their transition and an increased diversification of our risks. And in the future, the third pillar, there is mobility. We want to create a world leader in sustainable mobility. Our objective is to finalize the acquisition of LeasePlan in 2022 and successfully complete the integration project in 2023. We will continue to adapt our offerings beyond simply car usage with new uses, including new technologies; to offer solutions that are ever more in line with customers' expectations when it comes to digitization, personalization as well as flexibility. So in addition to consolidation -- to consolidating the 3 pillars, we are going to continue and make progress on 3 cross-functional levers: customer satisfaction, digitization and environment, social and governance issues. As far as customer satisfaction is concerned, it has always been a top priority for us. And there is always room for progress. We evaluate our performance on a regular basis and have engaged in structured approaches to keep it at a high level across all groups' businesses. Being a leader in customer satisfaction requires us to support the cultural revolution in usage and to improve our technological foundations. So as far as the digitization is concerned, we want to be at the forefront of new technologies. We've made tremendous progress in the past years. However, there is room for progress. Once again, I think this is only the beginning. First of all, in terms of -- as far as customer interfaces are concerned, many of you are probably using the SocGen app. We're going to continue developing it. And we're going to continue improving our remote customer relation centers. In terms of data use and valuation, we're going to offer customers more and more [ adapt in ] personalized solutions while preserving their data and privacy. Last but not least, in terms of efficiency we're going to improve our systems and processes for ever faster decisions. So at the end of the day, we're looking at developing our offerings, we're exploring new demands and opportunities related to crypto actives. There may be some questions on this later, we'll see. We're doing this very cautiously. We're interested also in new payment methods. We're interested in bank-as-a-service models, again, while being very, very prudent and cautious when it comes to these new contents, which implications are not yet fully understood. As far as the environmental, social and governance issues are concerned, you know that we are committed to being a responsible bank and a leader in sustainable finance. I mentioned recent award we received. I will now elaborate on this aspect. In a few minutes, Diony Lebot, our Executive Vice President, will present the company's strategy for ecological transition as well as the governance we have implemented to address our CSR issues. So these are the main strategic directions we're pursuing and developing always with -- in co-construction with our teams and based on our customers' expectations. We will present the financial outlook to 2025 in the second quarter. I was going to do this before. With the events in Ukraine, we decided to do this after the closing of our sale of our activities in Russia. So in conclusion, I would like to once again insist on the fact that the company has solid commercial and financial fundamentals; tremendously motivated teams; a clear, ambitious, strategic road map, which is being implemented. We have a huge number of extremely motivating projects, projects that are truly value-creating and demanding. And we need to deliver. We have already accomplished a number of steps and I am confident that we will be able to achieve our objectives and improve year-after-year the competitiveness, profitability and positive impact of our businesses. We're moving forward with the entire general management team with determination and discipline to deliver the expected results and honor the trust you have placed in us. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Frederic. Before giving the floor to Diony Lebot to present the CSR strategy, let's watch a short film. [Presentation]

Hello, everyone. It is a great pleasure for me to present this session on CSR. As you saw in the film, our CSR ambition aims to put Société Générale's [indiscernible], its corporate purpose into action. It's a commitment that is carried at the highest level of the company by general management and drives our teams on a daily basis. We want to build with our clients more ecological and inclusive development models. And to contribute to this, we are determined to act as a responsible bank, a leader in sustainable finance. Our group has therefore launched a new CSR road map based on consultations with all our key stakeholders, customers, shareholders, NGOs, supervisors, employees. More than 5,300 people were consulted to express their expectations on the role that Société Générale could play in CSR. In the face of the environmental and social challenges facing the world, which have been exacerbated by the current health and geopolitical crisis and are now on an unprecedented scale, we will continue to evolve and accelerate particularly in terms of the ecological transition. This is, of course, the greatest collective challenge of our time. Société Générale's CSR ambition is based on 4 pillars. The first pillar is the ecological transition. It includes issues related to the decarbonization of our portfolios, which means reducing CO2 emissions, support clients and the projects we finance. It also includes the energy transition, the development of the circular economy and the participation of biodiversity as well as, and this is very important, the adoption of new uses and behaviors that are less carbon intensive and more environmentally friendly. This is the main pillar of our CSR ambition, which I will develop in just a few minutes. The second pillar is territorial development. It is at the heart of our actions in the field every day. We support project developers. We participate development of sustainable cities and infrastructures. We promote green mobility with a leading role in the electrification of car fleets, in particular, to our subsidiary, ALD. Our local roots, our driving force behind the planned merger of the Crédit du Nord and Société Générale networks in France, as Frederic Oudea pointed out, it is also a driving force behind our goal with Africa program. The third pillar is our responsibility as an employer: be faster, inclusive and engaging work environment and manage the employment and professional development of our employees responsibly. The fourth pillar is our culture of responsibility. In this respect, we are strengthening our governance to better integrate sustainability issues into our actions, of course, ensuring compliance with regulations and managing efficiently the implementation of our CSR commitments. We are directing our resources in a major way towards achieving this ambition. We just announced a new ambition of EUR 300 billion in sustainable financing by 2025. That involves all our businesses, important environmental and social issues. This involves financing that we grant directly or bond issues that we direct on the capital markets. Our internal governance is the foundation of this CSR approach, which allows us to structure our road map and to develop our ambition. Indeed, CSR is not the domain of a few specialists concerned or other activities and it is a subject of a global ambition in the medium and long term, including binding and impactful objectives and policies which must be deployed and evaluated regularly. CSR [ is still ] present at every level of the group's governance. First of all, our Board of Directors approved the group's CSR strategy and oversees its implementation. [indiscernible] Jean-Bernard Levy has been appointed to advise it on energy transitions. CSR is dealt within the various bodies of the Board. The Risk Committee, for example, regularly reviews climate and environmental risk and the environment. The Compensation Committee ensures that CSR criteria are included in the compensation of senior executives. To date, non-financial criteria, at least half of which are CSR criteria, account for 40% of the variable compensation paid to corporate officers. So this is a priority area for general management. As of January 1, 2022, the organization of general management has been adapted to embody at the highest level of the organization the 2 major cross-functional transformations linked to CSR, on the one hand, and digital on the other. As Executive Vice President, I am responsible for supervising all CSR policies and ensuring that they're effectively reflected in the path of our businesses and functions. I devote a large part of my time and energy to this with the aim of integrating CSR in the heart of our businesses and business model. CSR is fully integrated in the BU and [ SU's ] aims and in the goals of the Management Committee more largely speaking. In terms of the bodies, general management examines -- Executive Board examines sensitive CSR issues to various committees, which it chairs. Among them, the Responsible Commitments Committee is very important because it defines the group CSR commitments and standards, including climate alignment targets. It should also be noted that we have launched a major program at group level to operationalize transformation, we call it ESG by design. It also bears on environmental and social data, which are a real challenge, not widely available among our clients and for which standards and not yet stabilized. So therefore, we have a robust system supported at the highest level of the company. This allows us to make strong commitments to act in a consistent and coordinated manner and to continue to roll out policies while taking into account changes in the context. We know that the ecological transition is the development of unprecedented scope because the economy is not decarbonized and it's far from being aligned with the 1.5-degree trajectories. We also know that, as a bank, we have a responsibility to finance the economy, and therefore, to support this evolution. I would now like to focus on the climate challenge. Société Générale's commitment to the fight against climate change is a long-standing one. We started financing renewable energy more than 20 years ago. I financed the first wind farm at Société Générale, actually. And since then, we have been actively contributing to the development of new sustainable finance standards. We participate in various industry coalitions with the aim of accelerating the ecological transition. As you can see on screen, there are several initiatives, I won't mention them all, but I will mention 2. The most recent and the most important is the NZBA, meaning the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. This is an alliance of more than 100 banks promoting the alignment of portfolios with trajectories compatible with the 1.5-degree scenario. The second example illustrates the way I think we work with industry, with our clients. This is the hydrogen council, which aims to position hydrogen among the key solutions for the energy transition. It now brings together more than 120 companies from different industry and energy sectors linked to the hydrogen value chain. We bring it to our expertise in financing and consulting. The ecological transition is complex, and we are convinced that it requires concerted and collective approaches with all our stakeholders. First of all, public authorities, but also our peers, our clients, investors, scientists, regulators and so on. More specifically, in terms of ecological transition, we have set 3 priorities: manage risks associated with climate change; manage the impact of our activities on the climate; and supporting our customers in the ecological transition. What is important to take into account is that we are now facing an immense challenge, which includes both climate issues and also economic issues. In addition, there are considerable challenges such as energy security in Europe and the social acceptability of the transformations necessary for the transition. The issue is, therefore, not simply to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. We must also and above all, considerably reduce the carbon footprint of the economy by improving energy efficiency, adapting production methods, mobility, housing. And generally, all our uses and consumption methods, including by moving towards greater sobriety. In an economy that currently uses 80% of fossil fuels, investments to be made are substantial. And innovation will be a determined and decisive factor to bring about the necessary transformations. Finance clearly has an important role to play in this fast and profoundly changing world. And Société Générale plans to play a leading role. While supporting our clients on short-term issues, in particular, we are confirming the climate ambitions we have set for ourselves. We will also produce new portfolio alignment targets and continue to adapt our sectoral policies this year to accelerate. Let's take a look at what we're doing completely for all of these 3 priorities. The first priority is to manage the risk associated with climate change. I'm referring to physical risks linked to bad weather or flooding that can impact our assets, but it may also expose some companies to another risk: that of losing value because of their incompatibility with the low carbon economy, a tire manufacturer without a green economy. So we've adopted different measures for measuring impact and assessing vulnerability to risk. And we carry our testing -- stress testing exercises for ourselves and under the leadership of regulators. The second priority is to manage a better productivities in the climate. Before going into the details, let me remind you that greenhouse gas emissions are categorized into 3 different scopes as they're called, depending on whether they are direct emissions from a company or indirect emissions linked to the upstream or downstream value chain. Within the group, we have embarked upon a proactive approach to reduce emissions linked to our operations. For example, buildings, our IT equipment and our travels, Scope 1 and 2 emissions. After reducing greenhouse gas emissions per occupant in our real estate portfolio by 20% between 2015 and 2019, we've set a new target of reducing all Scope 1 and 2 emissions. So direct, therefore, by 50% between 2019 and 2030. Since 2011, we have also implemented an innovative internal carbon tax mechanism invented by Frédéric Oudéa, Director General at the time. So it is redistributed to an environmental efficiency award organized each year to reward internal initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint. Over 200 projects this year, a lot of enthusiasm around that. Regarding indirect emissions known as Scope 3, it should be recalled that for banks, these refer to greenhouse gas emissions induced by our clients and the projects that we finance. These indirect emissions made up the bulk of emissions attributed to banks. And this is obviously where the challenge is greatest. For Société Générale, we are resolutely committed to decarbonizing our portfolios. As I mentioned earlier, in April 21, 2021, we joined an alliance of the United Nations Environmental Program, the NZBA, in order to build common methodologies with our peers to achieve this decarbonization sector by sector. Our teams are particularly active in leading technical working groups. However, we have already begun working on aligning our portfolios before joining NZBA. We were pioneers in a certain number of sectors, and reduction targets were set for some of the most emission-intensive sectors such as fossil fuels, power generation and transportation. To date, we have reduction targets on over 40% of our funded emissions, as you can see on screen. In the coming months, we will supplement these targets as the NZBA makes progress and set new goals that will be made public. The decarbonization targets we set impact our business strategy, of course, leading us to adapt our offer and to encourage our customers to adopt compatible transition paths. In addition to the targets, we frame, we manage our activities to a certain number of sectoral policies and environmental and social positions. In particular, granting funds in the most sensitive sectors, such as maritime transport, hydrocarbons, mining and hydroelectric power is subject to conditions and restrictions. In 2021, we strengthened the criteria of our policy on the hydrocarbon sector, particularly for the so-called unconventional category. In practice, the group refrains from carrying out dedicated operations of oil from tar sands, extra heavy oil, shale oil and gas as well as oil produced in the Arctic and in the Ecuadorian Amazon. All of our detailed policies are available on our website as well as in our report on the climate. This brings me to the third and most important priority, supporting clients in their transition. Companies involved in the transition are facing unprecedented investment needs. We're talking about several trillion euros per year by 2050. We therefore need substantial capital and debt financing and strategic advice. We therefore maintain an increasingly close dialogue with our clients on CSR issues with the aim of analyzing and understanding their specific needs, assisting them in their own projects with positive impacts, selecting or structuring appropriate offers, all of this is in compliance with the group's own commitments. Our approach is very comprehensive. We offer a wide range of certified sustainable finance solutions, expert advice, investment solutions, specialized services such as car leasing or capital goods. The sectoral expertise of our teams acquired over the years is a major asset in inventing innovative solutions adapted to new value chains. We are strengthening this expertise to extensive training programs, which we are continuing to extend toward the group. We also support very small businesses with specific schemes, such as the environmental and social loan offer that was launched at the start of the year by Société Générale and Crédit du Nord networks. Now for our individual customers, we have developed specific offers to meet the financing needs of electric vehicles and energy renovation work in particular. We have also signed agreements with several national and international asset managers to offer a range of responsible savings products. The group offers 20 SRI or environmentally oriented funds. Société Générale Insurance also offers protection products that encourage responsible behavior on the part of policyholders. To conclude, we are involving all of the bank's businesses and functions in this transformation. CSR is no longer a specialist topic. It has entered every team and now affects every one of the bank's 131,000 employees. We do this with determination, a great sense of responsibility, but also with great humility, given the magnitude of the challenges and in collaboration with all our stakeholders. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Diony. I'm sure there will be questions on this very important topic. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, we are now going to proceed to the part of our general assembly, our general meeting devoted to core corporate governance. You will find in the universal registration document on Page 62 and onwards the report on corporate governance. You will be able to read in detail the report on the activities of the Board, each of the committees and the report on the activities of the Chairman. The Board of Directors devoted a great deal of time in 2021 to monitor the implementation of the strategic plan. The Board of Directors closely monitored the bank's activities. In particular, it's big transformations with BDDF, CdN and the restructuring of [ Merck ]. On several occasions, they worked on the preparation of the decision to acquire a lease plan by ALD as well as the disposal of Lyxor. And of course, it also ensured the health risks for employees, customers and suppliers. In 2021, it met 15 times. The Board of Directors also approved the bank's CSR strategy, which was presented to you, and approved the nonfinancial performance declaration. Lastly, and this is an important decision. It set ambitious targets for diversity in management bodies by 2023. So the Board of Directors devoted each meeting to an update on compliance remedies. And we noted with satisfaction, the decisions of the U.S. authorities to close the 2018 proceedings on sanctions and embargo compliance as well as the IBOR sanctions. And the Board of Directors also worked with the -- on the proposal -- sorry, with the Nominating and Governance Committee succession plans. You will find this in the registration document on Page 89. This evaluation has been positive, both as far as its composition is concerned and as far as the quality of its work. So we've also taken care to strengthen the training of Board members on certain topics such as accounting and prudential rules, technological subjects, such as cybersecurity, AI, compliance as well with training on anti-money laundering and of course, corporate social responsibility. As far as I'm concerned, I was actively involved in -- through -- with regulators. I met with international shareholders and investors, in particular in the context of the preparation of this general meeting. With regard to the composition of the Board of Directors, 2022 will be marked by several changes that have been submitted to you. And I will hand over to Gérard Mestrallet who is the Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to present them to you. Gerard, over to you.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, 3 directors are coming to the end of their term of office, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. Lorenzo has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2015. He's coming to the end of his second term as an independent director. You were able to read in detail his biography in the invitation. And the Board of Directors proposes that he be reappointed as Director and Chairman. He is bringing to the Board of Directors his experience in European regulations and International Finance, which is indispensable for the Board of a major international bank. He is fully dedicated to his role, and each annual evaluation confirms the high level of appreciation of his leadership within the Board of Directors. He's a person of unity and cohesion. His third term will be his last term. Then there is Diane Côté and Jérôme Contamine. They're proposed for a second term. Diane Côté is a member of the Risk Committee as well as the Audit and Internal Control Committee. Her experience in risk management and audit acquired in particular with insurance companies and at the London Stock Exchange provides valuable insight into the work of the Board. His attendance record is 100%. Jérôme Contamine has been the Chairman of the Compensation Committee is 2021. You will hear him in a few minutes. He also is a member of the Audit and Internal Control Committee. As the former CFO of 2 of France's largest companies, Sanofi and Veolia, he brings unprecedented experience to the Board. He is highly involved and 100% assiduous. He also sits on the Board of Total Energy. After the vote, the composition of the Board, excluding employee directors, will maintain, if you follow our recommendations, the same balance between men and women. The proportion of women directors is 42% based on the calculation recommended by the AFEP-MEDEF code, as far as collective competence is concerned. Its composition was judged and deemed appropriate during the self-evaluation. The composition of the committees will, therefore, remain unchanged. The Board of Directors will include 11 independent directors out of the 12 other directors elected by the general meeting; 1 director representing employee shareholders, also elected by the general meeting; and 2 directors elected by the employees. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Gérard. I would now like to give the floor to Jérôme Contamine, who is the Chairman of the Compensation Board or Committee.

Thank you, Lorenzo. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to come back to the compensation policy according to the regulations, banking regulations as well as for the directors. As you know, the Board of Directors determines the principles of the company's compensation policy. As I just said, with regard to regulated persons, it sets the compensation of its executive directors and decides on the granting of performance shares within the framework of authorization given by the general meeting. All matters are subject to the prior approval of the Compensation Committee that I chair. In 2021 the Compensation Committee met 6 times. Furthermore, in accordance with the legal provisions, the general meeting, today's meeting, must approve the 2022 compensation policy for corporate officers. So this is the ex-ante vote. And it will have to vote on the variable component of the compensation of corporate officers, again, for 2021. This is the ex-post as we call it. The group's compensation policy as far as regulated people is concerned is subject to a vote, a consultative vote. As you know, the company -- the group's compensation policy is subject to numerous regulations. The Board of Directors has ensured that this policy is complied with. So as far as corporate officers are concerned, so their total remuneration amounts to EUR 1.7 million. It was adopted by your assembly May 23, 2018, although the number of directors receiving this remuneration has increased from 12 to 13 since the May 18, 2021, meeting. It is proposed to leave this amount unchanged. The Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer do not receive any remuneration as their mandates as directors. As far as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lorenzo, he only receives fixed salary, unchanged since 2018, plus the cost of his official housing in Paris. It is proposed to keep this remuneration unchanged as part of the process of renewing his term of office as Director and Chairman, as Gerard explained a few minutes ago. The Board, along with the Compensation Committee, has made sure that this compensation is at the median of the European following banks: Barclays BBVA, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Nordea, Santander, UBS and UniCredit. In order to guarantee total independence in the execution of his mandate, the President does not receive any variable compensation, no securities, no compensation linked to the company's performance. Moving on to the executive directors now. Ex-ante 2022 now. The general principles are similar to the ones we had for 2021 with a few changes. So it includes fixed compensation as well as variable compensation. The fixed remains unchanged from 2021. The variable compensation is assessed on the basis of financial objectives for 60% and nonfinancial objectives for 40%. And as you can see here, the maximum variable is 135% of the fixed remuneration for Frédéric Oudéa and 150% for the others. If some of this -- some of the compensation is paid immediately, some is deferred to the following years, contingent upon performance criteria. As far as long-term profit sharing, there again, the structure end remains unchanged. It's based on shares or equivalents and again, deferred over a 7-year period. And in accordance with banking regulations, the variable compensation, including the long-term compensation is capped at 2x the fixed compensation. A few additional details now and minor changes, the details of which can be found in the universal document. On the indicators that were kept for the CEO and Deputy CEOs. Here it is. Thank you. So as you can see, 60% of the variable remuneration is based on financial criteria. 40% is based on nonfinancial criteria. And we -- so we decided to simplify the structure of the remuneration to make it more explicit, with more explicit indicators. So the CEO has indicators that are based on the company's indicators. In the past, it had -- there were other components related to specific activities for the deputy CEOs. It's a combination, 60%, and as you can see, 36%. As far as the nonfinancial criteria are concerned, we've broken them down to 2 different groups, collective groups, and they represent 20% of the 100% or that's half of the 40% that is -- that are nonfinancial. So these are mainly CSR criteria, very much -- very consistent with what we've said so far. And we've increased the part dedicated to CSR objectives. And 20% is limited to the specific responsibilities of Mr. Oudéa and Diony Lebot. Last but not least, I would like to remind you that there are some additional items. There is one which is the noncompetition rule or clause, which is only paid out in certain circumstances. And severance payment, which is only paid in the event of a forced departure. And again, the pension benefits that are contingent upon performance. Frédéric Oudéa has not received any additional pension from Société Générale over the past years. Moving on to the remuneration for 2021. The remuneration -- the fixed remuneration amounts to EUR 1.3 million, which is unchanged since 2014. The annual variable compensation reflects the good performance of the company in many areas with an overall achievement rate of 99.2%. So that means 100% of the objectives were reached. So this gives us a total amount of EUR 1,740,258. Some of it will be paid in 2021, but the leftover will be paid over a 3-year period based on performance criteria. Then there is the long-term incentive, a total of EUR 712,026 paid in 2 shares, 4 years and 6 years, and this amount is based on the maximum -- the capped maximum based on 2x the fixed compensation, according to the CRD 5 European directive. So in total, Frédéric Oudéa's compensation is up 21% compared to 2020. Again, I'd like to remind you of the good performance of the company last year. And 2025, this was before the 50% waiver of the bonus year back in 2020. Let's move on to the deputy CEOs. As you can see, the fixed remuneration is EUR 800,000. This is stable compared to the previous years. Variable compensation depends on the indicators measured -- to measure the performance. And as you can read here, EUR 883,000 and EUR 910,000. These are the variable compensation and the long-term incentive payments are -- have a very similar structure to Mr. Oudéa's EUR 549,000 and EUR 528,000. And here again, payments are spread over a number of years with a payment at 4 years and 2 years. And both deputy directors give additional pension benefits that are contingent upon performance for 2021. So in accordance with the provision of the Pact Law, we also have to provide information on changes in compensation of each Executive Director compared with the average and median compensation company's employees. So this graph presents -- reflects the changes of the median compensation of employees and the ratios between this compensation and that of the CEO. So as you can see, the ratio is 45x the average compensation. That's a bit less than in 2019, a bit less than in 2017, slightly more than in 2020. Last but not least, the Board of Directors, of course, supervises regulated according to CRD5. These are employees who are subject to risks. In 2021, there are 569 employees who have been identified. So the average variable compensation went up, again, connected directly to the good performance. So the variable increase was, on average, 56%. The total compensation went up 26% on average. So your Board of Directors was able to verify in detail that these evolutions were consistent with applicable regulations. I would also like to draw your attention that these amounts are different from those submitted to you for a consultative vote in resolution 13, which concerns the amounts paid in 2021. Here, we are talking about amounts that will be paid over time with a large part, which is in the deferred compensation. So there is a difference between these 2 parameters, and that difference should be taken into consideration. Again, this is in resolution 13. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Jerome and the Compensation Committee. Before moving on to questions, let me conclude this section on governance and give the floor back to Frédéric Oudéa.

Ladies and gentlemen, before answering your questions, let me address governance in the group and my term as Chief Executive of the group, a term that will expire in 1 year's time. Let me first point out that it is a real honor to be at the head of this group for 14 years now, very demanding years, sometimes difficult, but always motivating. And that made Société Générale, I believe, a bank that is both responsible and well positioned on the professions of the future, thanks to the hard work and commitment of the men and women in Société Générale to whom I have the most -- utmost respect and attachment. In the coming years, the group will implement, as I pointed out, wonderful strategic projects that are buoyant for the future. We'll have a new retail bank in France, Boursorama can launch its new strategic road map. Our finance investment banking will consider sustainable profitable growth. Just like international retail banking, the new company, thanks to the acquisition of LeasePlan by FD, will drive growth in mobility. Whereas as I described before, the world is probably entering a new cycle. I am convinced that Société Générale will then have completed the implementation of our business model, serving our 26 million clients, individuals, professionals, companies and financial institutions, relevant, balanced and ensuring profitable growth for the group. We must then derive the fullest potential from it in the coming years. So in 1 year, my term as the Chief Executive Officer will come to a close. In this slide, I have thought about the different options that may be contemplated, taking into account, first and foremost, the best interest of the group and the challenges for the years to come. Confident in the trajectory of the group and the quality of what has been said 2 years ago, I told the Board that I will not be a candidate for renewing my term in 2023. That decision was taken with humility and a lot of emotion, but also a lot of personal serenity. I will, of course, see to it, in the coming year with all of general management that the group runs smoothly and that our different projects are completed in due course. The Board will have a duty to carry out the appointment of my successor. As Lorenzo will point out, it will ask me to take the time necessary to carry out that transition and legitimately give you an announcements of that, which is why I'm making these announcements today. Thank you, once again, for your precious trust all throughout these years, which now is my commitment and for your loyalty to our bank.

Thank you, Frederic. As was recalled in 2023, the mandate is coming to a close, and he does not want to renew it after spending 15 years as the head of the group. It is up to the Board to propose a vote in 1 year's time for his success -- his successor as CEO. The Board has decided to launch a selection process. The Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chairman of the Appointments Committee will steer this procedure with the help of [ Econam ]. The Board will make every effort for this to be a successful transition. The Board guarantees the group strategy in alignment with general management. Until May 2023, that continuity will be ensured by the current general management, led by Frederic with full support by the Board to serve the bank and the best interest of employees and shareholders. We've now come to the end of the section on governance. And I would now like to move on to the written questions and a discussion. This year, 12 shareholders asked 1 more written questions. Usually more than 1. Individual shareholders, Madam [ Sabatier ], Mr. [ Gremor ], Mr. [ Grigori ], Mr. [ Lohwa ], Mr. [ Ballesdon ] and Mr. [ Place ]; and associations to [ AFRAC ], Friends of the Earth, Forum for Responsible Investments, Reclaim Finance, IPAC and then Institutional FI Trust. The responses were posted on the General Assembly website last Friday, yesterday and today. Apart from the question from Mr. [ Ballesdon ] concerning registered shareholders, they related to things that have already been discussed since the beginning of the general meeting, particularly the results, distribution policy, Russia strategy and especially the CSR and climate policy. These responses have been published and will not be read at the meeting. So now open up to the floor for discussion. And reverting to an old tradition, I suggest that we start with the questions from the shareholders' Advisory Committee. Mrs. [ Rio ], you have the floor.

You presented the CSR strategy. Could you tell us how it impacts the commercial strategy, more specifically and give us some concrete examples?

Thank you for your question. I will try to describe to what extent CSR today can be found throughout all activities in the group and how every business line is adapting to these challenges. First of all, because we're talking about customers' needs that are quite considerable to ensure the ecological transition in particular. In investment and finance banking, we have been the lead in innovation when it comes to structuring green bonds, sustainable bonds, integrating sustainability criteria. I could give you examples. We financed recently the Republic of Chile with bonds, with sustainability criteria or the Republic of Berlin with bonds containing sustainable development goals. Once again, investment banking, we are financing major projects that have significant challenges in terms of the amount of new technologies, maintaining risk and that require a high-level understanding of the challenges and of the dynamics in the sector or technical competencies. We have a major project, for example, to finance the production of giga factories for electric batteries for cars, for vehicles. Also in retail banking, they're adapting their offers and innovating. I give examples with renovation loans, loans for electric vehicles, with a surplus to take into account all these needs. Also, advisory services for clients together with, for example, with EcoVadis to help small- and medium-sized companies in this year's our needs. So this is something that is particularly important to our clients, the way they invest their savings. So we have a full range of new savings product fully certified SRI where clients can invest responsibly in sustainable projects, investing their savings. So all the business lines have adapted their offer, and we will continue to do so. There, too, with high-level training and while being fully customer-focused and listening to customers' needs, while being innovative and responsible in the way we help our clients and cater to their needs. Thank you.

Thank you. Could you please go beside the hostess and point that you have a question. And the hostesses when I give you a number. They will tell me -- the hostesses will tell us the number of the question. As usual, I'll take 2 or 3 questions in a row. And I'll start from my left to my right, 10, 4 and 8. And the next round, we will cover the rest of the room. So starting question 10.

Hello, Mr. President and Executive, Chief Executives. Delighted to see after 3 years. I represent the association for individual shareholders. Mr. Oudéa it's the last year where we have the pleasure of seeing you.

No, he'll be here next year.

Okay.

He'll answer your question. It's true. That's true. That's true.

But let me tease you a bit, I found it very interesting what you said. You said that ALD was the biggest acquisition project for the group. My question is, wasn't it more Paris in '99, in 1999? And I must say that I'm delighted that this meeting was held in all civility, which wasn't the case this morning at BNP, your competitor. Credit Agricole also decided to give back to shareholders the dividend that should have been paid normal in 2020. And the European Central Bank did not enable that payout. I get the feeling that's not what you plan to do. Can you confirm that? Second question, regarding relations with shareholders. So this year, you're receiving us here in this innovative forum. My question is next year, because I think you have to book the room 1 year at a time, do you plan to come back here? Or would you stay close to your headquarters as usual? And Mr. President, you have given the good habit of doing this. Could you also give us the date for the next general meeting? My last question, I didn't plan this. I didn't know that you'd be announcing your departure in 1 year's time, but when you do everything for your successor to be through internal promotions?

Second question, please.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen of the Board. I'm in charge of a campaign at Reclaim Finance, an NGO. My question based on your climate policy. Société Générale entered into a commitment to attain carbon net neutrality at 1.5 degrees. Whereas the International Energy Agency and IPCC set to attain these goals, you must start developing new fossil energy projects and quickly move towards starting new projects and -- in order to be aligned with 1.5 degrees. Now unfortunately, if you meet these goals when it comes to coal, that's not the case when it comes to oil and gas. For the time being, your actions are insufficient to get there. To stick to your commitments, that means stopping as of now any support to fossil energy for projects and companies developing these energies. For want of these commitments, as of now, taking our commitment, as of now, could you recognize the absolute need to be aligned -- I'm sorry, could you recognize the climate imperative of stopping oil and gas? And could you give us a road map to do that before the COP meeting?

Third question was over there. 8. Yes, okay.

My question is for Mr. Frédéric Oudéa. In the past, I was happy that he took over from Mr. Bouton. That was 5 years ago. That's a long time ago. And I spoke about Boursorama with you. And I pointed out that I was amongst the first client at Fimatex. And at the time, well, I can see that Boursorama has been growing fast. I've been a long-standing client since the start of Fimatex. But in recent years, I note that you're easing up. When I ask a question, I get the wrong answer or they answer undecided or something totally as off. In 2020, it just so happened that Boursorama has been doing things to my detriment by not sticking with Boursorama's written obligations. Then I get often answers that are not confirmed or if there are misunderstanding following an inquiry, a marketing study, asking me for my complaints at the end of 2021, I explained myself and asked for an appointment at Boursorama. As I did before with the former CEO, everything went well, and my problems could be solved. But now I don't get -- I no longer get any answers. I've launched complaints several times. And the answer I get is, well, nothing. So I'm not happy. And I repeated recently that I needed an appointment face-to-face.

Can I? No, no, no, no. I'm trying to explain to you. I'm trying to explain. They are here at your disposal.

Yes. But as I explained before, I would like to be received in an appointment and talk with the former Chair -- the former Chairman as was done before. How do you call this? The account manager, that is, the account manager. I can't remember the name of the former CEO, but here's our questions. And now my account manager is silent. And the person in charge of my account doesn't tell me anything. And the account manager is totally absent. So I would like to be received in the appointment. Listen, ma'am, listen, this is something, a problem you can encounter. I would like this to be solved.

I will answer you...

Because I'm forced otherwise to call on the law firm to lodge a complaint.

Let me answer you, sir. We organize, even though it is not close to our offices, we organize outside of the room. The auditorium tables with people who can speak with you, people from Boursorama are there. So I hope that you will obtain satisfaction and that you can explain your problems, at least. As I said before, if you have any individual problems, we have teams from Boursorama even outside to answer your questions. I'd like to answer this first question. First of all, the 23rd of May 2023, the next general meeting. We haven't decided on the location yet, but I understand you like it to be closer to La Défense. We take note of that, and we'll try to satisfy you. As regards succession, as I said, the process has started. We can say no more at this stage. I will let Frederic answer the question. What about dividend? And then maybe Jean could answer the other question on dividend.

We didn't make that commitment. We were banned from paying out another dividend by supervisors during the crisis. And as a result, we had resilient results with accumulation of capital so that we could pay out a dividend to make it attractive for shareholders. We have a policy based on net underlying income. We exclude exceptional items, and we apply 50% distribution rate, which is well balanced with respect to the need to finance our growth. We plan to continue with that policy without necessarily referring to the dividend that was not paid before. But when you look at the dividend payout in 2021, it's attractive and higher than the dividend payout that was forbidden at the time.

Well, we also use those scenarios. I believe that the assumptions we use are very impactful. You must -- I'm referring to energy, security and social acceptability. You can clearly see that these assumptions are not united today. Having said that, everything indicates that we need stronger action. We need to accelerate to move towards a lower carbon economy. That's obvious. For Société Générale, I already said this, we have made strong commitments. I believe we were the first bank to take a commitment to reduce our engagement in oil and gas exploration. We have added to that. We have been working closely with -- leading most of the methodology groups in the NZBA using scientific data. And the scenario you described, of course, you'll continue to examine all of this, taken into account other imperatives. What is extremely important to bear in mind as well, for all those who are listening, is that oil companies are also adapted and they're investing heavily in transition and renewables. I described the concerted action with industry in the coalition, and this is absolutely necessary. Given the challenges on the collective, responses can be impactful and efficient.

Okay. We have a question over there, I believe, at the back. Please, Jean. I believe you had a question. No. Okay. Then I guess we can take number 2.

Mr. Chairman, [ Roger Rogetranche ], I'm one of your shareholders. I have 3 questions. Has this start-up allowed us to stop waste of -- stop the food waste? Last year, we had the disposal of Lyxor. Why was it so urgent to sell it? And who did you sell it to? And then the third question. I understand Société Générale is interested in raw materials, coffee, rice. Could you tell us a little bit about this?

Thank you. I believe we had additional questions, please. I think we can take number 2 again.

I have a question on IT risks. IT risks in the banking sector is increasingly important, given the complexity of the size and numbers -- number of transactions. If an IT anomaly appears, the risk rather of one appearing, is increasing. With new ways of working, banks are more and more exposed because of their IT systems that are more and more open. So resources, hardware and human resources have been made available to detect, assess and prevent, eradicate attacks on the bank's IT system. Last century, it took weeks and weeks to find what happened or access the safe of the bank where all the money was. Today, it takes a tiny virus, not even a coronavirus, 1 virus to put the bank upside down.

Well, I think I can show you that it's not that easy. Frederic?

Yes. We're going to give the floor to Gaelle Olivier, who's our new Chief Operating Officer, but you're right, sir, in pointing out the existence of cyber threats. I think we have to always be very humble. The level of threat is increasing, and it is true. We live in an increasingly digital world. Gaelle will shed some light on what we have done and what we are doing to deal with the threats.

Sir, to you, I remember some of the discussions we've had together before. The start-up company that you've mentioned, I don't know. I don't believe we have a connection with that startup. I can answer your question on Lyxor. Lyxor was an asset management company. They were -- they were managing ETFs. ETFs are products that replicate market indexes. And it appeared that we were probably not the best shareholder for Lyxor in a world with more and more asset management consolidation. We were seeing large American companies growing at a very rapid pace. And we decided, therefore, to sell Lyxor to Amundi. Amundi is a bit like -- almost like one of our babies. We created -- we were part of the creators of Amundi 12 years ago. They are the #1 European asset manager. They were very legitimate, and they were willing to pay the price, a price that reflects the intrinsic value of Lyxor. So I think it was a win-win deal. As far as raw materials are concerned, I don't know what you're referring to precisely. I think you mentioned Minneapolis. I think in the 2021 results, and you will see the 2022 results. I think we have weathered the storms so far very well. There have been the gas markets or metal markets such as nickel, for example, the LME market, the London Exchange closed for a few days, which is very unusual. And you may remember that in 2019, we decided to pull out of capital markets that were working on raw materials, not so much because of the volatility, but I think that this is also probably why the 2022 results were so good and we were not impacted by the volatility of that market segment. Gaelle, turning to you on cybersecurity.

Thank you, Frederic, and then thank you, sir, for that question. I think it's a very good question. And you are absolutely right. It is a growing concern. And our best protection as individuals or as a company is to simply be aware that the risks -- that this risk exists. And we need to start protecting ourselves by simply keeping an eye on e-mails and to avoid phishing. Now to more specifically answer your question, Société Générale has launched a number of important initiatives supported by the board of directors. And -- because you're right, there is a significant operational risk for the bank. Let me give you a few illustrations. At Société Générale, approximately 800 people are working on cybersecurity. We have a centralized organization and a governance program which was implemented at company level in a very cross functional way and with the presence of those people in all entities. The budget is -- we have a EUR 650 million 3-year budget to maintain cybersecurity and permanently improve our level of protection to better deal with those threats. It's approximately 5% of the company's IT budget that we dedicate every year to cybersecurity. This year, we have launched a new assessment methodology to assess our cybersecurity across the company with an INST barometer based on 200 very detailed questions. Thanks to that assessment, we're going to have a very detailed understanding of the strengths and possibly weaknesses or opportunities of all the entities of the company. So this is a topic which keeps us very busy day after day. When I say us, it's our IT people. We live in a world where also the transformation requires more integration with IT. So we need to be protected at all levels. I hope that with that, I answered your question. Let's continue the questions on the left side here. Do we have any questions there? On the left side? #5, please.

Good afternoon, and many thanks, first of all, to our Chief Executive. I think that you've made tremendous accomplishments. As a shareholder, I think that reducing the dividend when we've just had our best year on record is a bit of a disappointment, I must say. Even if there is a share buyback. At the time, it was at EUR 35. That's about 3% of the capital. It's a bit like telling someone, "We're going to reduce your compensation by 30%. But don't worry, we'll increase it 3% every year. So after 10 years, you'll be back to where you were." The company's stock has been very volatile. What counts at the end of the day for us is dividends. So if you reduce the dividends, well, that's obviously negative. So I would like to ask the following question. Could you give us the perspectives when it comes to dividend, dividend payout? What are the perspectives that you have? Second, I have a question on ALD. The LeasePlan acquisition is a wonderful acquisition because you're about to make LeasePlan a global leader. But you're down to 50% stake. What is your long-term perspective when it comes to stakes in LeasePlan?

Question four. #4, please.

Good afternoon. My name is Maria, and I'm here on behalf of ShareAction and MGO. And thank you very much for the presentations, especially on sustainability. And my question is on that topic. Société Générale has important exposure to fossil fuel companies operating in various countries in Africa, putting the bank in a unique position to support Africa's transition, Africa's just transition. However, we're not seeing this happening currently, and the bank has been involved in controversial projects. The latest IPCC report shows that African countries are disproportionately impacted by climate change, yet since 2016, Société Générale provided USD 4.75 billion in financing to the biggest fossil fuel companies operating in Africa. Fossil fuel production in Africa has had devastating impacts not only on the climate, but also socially. Despite Société Générale's recognition that access to electricity is one of the main issues in Africa, fossil fuel projects are not being used to address this, with research finding that investments have prioritized extraction for export over the development of domestic markets. My question, will Société Générale commit to restrict finance for new oil and gas activities and redirect this finance towards renewable energy for the benefit of African citizens, integrating just transition principles into its approach? Thank you very much.

Thank you. And we have #9, please.

Mr. Chairman, Mr. CEO, I have a very short question. Do you think you might provide for language translation for the deaf, sign language? I have very much appreciated all the documents you've provided. Unfortunately, I had some difficulty reading the lips. Thank you very much. Having sign language interpreters will cost some money, do you think you might consider this next year? I know that some companies that I'm also a shareholder of are doing this. And I think it's recorded, and it would make it possible to communicate with people with very specific needs. Thank you so much. I hope it wasn't too long.

Many thanks. I can answer that question, I believe. I don't think it has been asked to us before. If there is a special need for this, we will certainly be happy to provide the service next year, sir.

#8, please.

Good evening, Andre [ Alfer ], former employee and current shareholder. I have a question for Frederic Oudea regarding the company's -- the bank's initiatives with the disabled employees. And I would be interested in knowing how many employees -- what the percentages of disabled employees and what the company is doing when it comes to accessibility? I know that accessibility is a problem in many branches of Société Générale, not only Société Générale. It's a problem in a general way. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. Frederic, would you like to answer the questions?

Well, I can give the floor to Philip Emerick on the accessibility and question on disabled people. We'll come back to the question on sign language as well.

Let me come back to the other questions. As far as dividends are concerned, sir, I hear your comment. Our policy was to say in what we distribute, 80% is in cash dividends, 20% share buyback. And it's true that I suggested an exception this year in 2021, that we have a dividend at EUR 1.65 which still makes it a very attractive investment. And I think the stock market currently does not reflect the value of the company. So I think that there are opportunities in future dividends. So I think we're probably going to continue having this combination. Of course, we're very attentive to cash dividends. I wish I could give you the outlook, the perspectives. Our policy is 50% of the net underlying result, and eventually the ambition is to grow the underlying net income based on all the developments we've discussed this afternoon. On ALD and LeasePlan, yes, you are right. We said we would be a little above 50%, a 50%-plus stake. There would be, I guess, no problem if we decided to increase our stake. But we need a float. And that is important. It's really important when it comes to the listing of the company. And I think for -- this is one of the limits of ALD. And I think we also need to leave some room for partners. But eventually, we might consider it. We want to obviously have a majority stake in this deal. On Africa, Diony, I can give you the floor. But I think this is -- you raised a fundamental question. Let me say once again, Société Générale has committed to reducing funding, exploration and fossil fuels. I think we may not have been the first one, but one of the first ones with concrete objectives with numbers by 2025. So I'm -- we're absolutely not afraid to lose revenues, and we know that we will be able to generate a lot of revenues in new activities. As Diony said, we've just finalized -- there will be a EUR 300 billion investment between 2022 and 2025 in sustainable development. So it's not exclusively green and renewable, but we are definitely one of the world champions in sustainable development. Diony, I don't know if you want to add anything on Africa. I think that with that, I've answered all the questions, strategic and financial questions. So maybe Philip and Diony?

Well, I can give the floor to Philip for Africa. I would like to thank you for your question, and I think you used right term. What we need is a fair transition for Africa. A fair transition. So we need to have a global vision when it comes to investments in Africa for a more fair transition. Philip?

Thank you. As shareholders, I think you can be and must be very proud of what the company has done in Africa. Our desire for Africa -- Africa is a continent we know very well, by the way. We've been operating in some countries, in Morocco for 110 years, 60 years in Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal. And our wish is to support the development of these companies, as we said -- these countries, sorry. We have a program called Grow with Africa, and we have taken very strong commitments for the funding of infrastructures, support measures for SMEs. We've created [Foreign Language], the SME homes. We are also investing for financial inclusion and for innovative financing. We've deployed these initiatives, and the intention is to continue doing this in coordination with those states, customers and local partners. I believe that for the company, beyond the potential, the growth potential of the continent, of the African continent, we are one of the last banks, international banks to be there and really play this role. As far as the disabled is concerned, we have worked on this. I think that our compliance rate is 95%. We have bank statements that are available in Braille. So our branches are increasingly adapted to the disabled. We have a manifesto for the inclusion of the disabled. If you have any specific items that you would like us to discuss, I'd be happy to pick up on that with you. But I would like you to know that we take this very seriously, very wholeheartedly for our customers, but also for our employees. And a final message, [ if you metic ] in Boursorama, a customer who I would like to thank for his loyalty, and I have good news for you. Benoit Grisoni, who is now the General Director of Boursorama, is in the back of the room. He just raised his hand. And Benoit will be -- is looking forward to seeing you. Okay. There we go. Real time efficiency.

We have a question here, 7 and 2.

Hello, everyone. Mr. Chairman, Frederic. I'm now Chairperson of ASAC, an association bringing together employee shareholders and former employee shareholders of the bank. My question relates to employer shareholding. What is your policy in this area? And have you set a cap and floor for employees to hold equity?

Okay, #7 over there.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A registered shareholder. Two questions on the relations between Société Générale security services. As a Société Générale shareholder, the French Code of Commerce on standing universal registration document for perfect information of shareholders and not upheld by SGSS, we have to call them every year. And normally that shouldn't be the case. Wouldn't it be possible to keep up to date an excess (sic) [ Excel ] spreadsheet? I have an email from SGSS and that SG would change the conditions for amending securities accounts, provided that there is a signature of a supplementary agreement. That is in violation of securities accounts principles. Do you also believe that there's any hope of obtaining an answer 3 months down the road? There are not many of us as individual shareholders in this type of document that is so well done. We have noted that it was available at the entrance to this room, but it's hard to read it in 1 hour. It's a legal obligation normally, so otherwise, we can just receive a dividend without coming to the meeting, which would be sad since employees must get to understand the company better. Thank you.

Question #2 over there.

Good afternoon Jean-Claude Laurente, individual shareholder. When I attend the meeting of BNP or Société Générale, there's 1 point where you say that customers go to branches less and less. I would like to come back to the privatization of La Francaise des Jeux. Everyone said we should buy those shares. I thought that my account adviser would contact me. That wasn't the case, so I went to the branch. The answer from the teller was that you can only do so via the Internet. We were not trained about this transaction. Unfortunately, that was true. A member of my family, whom I advised to buy, said that can only be -- these shares could only be held on your PEA account. I don't understand. You complain that your clients no longer go to the branches, and the dates that will win operations for both parties, you refer them to the Internet. You had a unique opportunity to bring back your clients to the branches, and you didn't seize that opportunity, if I'm not mistaken.

Thank you. I would like to answer. Well, Emmanuel, your question. The association of shareholdings and group capital is a part of our culture, and has always been a major priority. Our level of employee shareholding today to different savings plans is one of the highest on the CAC 40, about 2x greater than what you find in other French companies, more like 3.3% elsewhere. We adopted a policy to carry out capital increases every 3 years. They are because you shouldn't forget it. You know that we do that with a discount in actual fact. But it's a good pace so that we can keep this commitment and align our interest. In that respect, we are -- today, as a matter of fact, I signed today a decision to launch PMAS for this year. And there is one resolution that will be presented to you just a few moments that you can vote on, enabling us to execute it. So I believe that today, it is a good pace for Société Générale. There's no threshold, but clearly above 10%. The other shareholders would be very much reluctant. So we will continue at that pace. I also believe, and you can do that with all the information required for shareholders to take decisions, but based on share profits that have largely increased in 2021. Regarding SGSS, I would really have to come back to you. I don't have the information right now to answer your question. On Société Générale security services, I'm surprised about what you said about La Francaise des Jeux because we took part in that placement, Boursorama and our network, right, Philip, so I'm bit surprised about the answer that was given to you. You should know that our network at any rate is really focusing on adviser services in savings, especially when there's a privatization transaction. It must have been an error, and I'm very sorry for that, but I'm a bit surprised. Because we physically contributed, if I dare say, in this IPO that was quite successful. Philip?

Well, what you describe is a failure, that's exactly what we don't want. And I confirm that you could have subscribed to this transaction in a branch or over the Internet. We had provided advice to our clients in savings management, and that is fundamental for us, especially in a complex moment such as today. I can ensure that in the new bank that is being prepared that this is a key challenge. And yes, we believe in digital, but we also believe fundamentally in human expertise and in being close to customers, proximity. So what you described, I hope that no one else would be a victim, because that's quite the opposite of what we're trying to achieve.

Okay, let's go around one last time before we vote. 5, first, 3 and then 2.

Hello, everyone at the meeting. You spoke about Africa a while ago, and I have only 1 question. What is Société Générale's involvement in help in Africa. Without help, you can do nothing. Even the fight against carbon and so on, and I know you have a lot of branches in Africa. And what are the obligations for employees in terms of basic vaccination outside of COVID, but of course, you have COVID today as well. Microsoft has been doing a lot and traveling even over there. Thank you for your understanding.

Okay, 3 and then 2 and 6, and it's over.

Yes, hello. Mr. Director General. In 2019, since we haven't had any meeting since, you heavily insisted on the fact of respecting clients. Now I have the opposite to say. My parents went to Société Générale in 1936, I followed them. Excellent relations, excellent relations until recently, recent years, when there was an excessive turnover, churn of people. People came in, 6 months later, they disappeared. A new [ commerce ] would come without even introducing themselves, they didn't phone you up or no contacts. When they try to have an appointment, they say, "We'll see. We'll see." And when we went, and [ when we call ], you can go to the branches, but when you take an appointment, and they don't even cancel it by a text message or the phone and you go for the appointment and the door is closed, they say, "It's closed because of COVID." Go to hell. And when you phone them, on the phone there's no one. A total void. I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but that's my case. It is a churn that's tremendous. I don't even know who's in charge of my account today. There's a name on a sheet of paper. When I go on the Internet rather, I see a name, but I don't even go there, because by the time I go there, they'll have someone else. And I must tell you that at a higher level, someone I won't name, but from general management, from Société Générale, phoned up the head of the branch for problems to be checked out, and she didn't even call the person back. That shows what I said before. So it's a nonsense. I have a checkbook for [ omra seventies ]. It came empty, I asked for it to be renewed, and they said, "You asked for a standard checking account. A standard checkbook." And they said, "We don't do that any longer. What's this checkbook [ en plus ] service?" Well, that's Société Générale did it, if you don't even know what you do, it's becoming serious. I hope you have something to answer to that, and that you can take actions to be more responsive when we go to the branches and we want to have someone to contact, someone who wasn't -- hasn't vanished. The time it takes for you to get some reaction.

Number 2 thank you.

Hello, Mr. President. In September 2022 (sic), there was the Vivendi transaction. I noted in my account that I had a big debit and asked for an explanation. I'm not discussing the facts, but I would like to know what the debit was all about? I met Mr. Oudea at the meeting in November, and he said, "I will look into it." I wrote, I phoned them up, I wrote a note, and before coming, I called my branch once again to ask them where we were. And they said, we will drop -- send you a letter. That was in September. Now listen, I believe if you were debited on your account without any explanation, you could ask yourself the same questions as I'm asking. And at the general meeting, maybe I will get an answer.

Thank you. Last question, #6. #6, please. Madam, #6, yes, it's you. You have the mic. It's not working? Is it working? Well, go ahead. Yes, sir. Go ahead. You're standing, sir. Go ahead.

Can I?

Yes, go ahead. Speak. Go ahead, sir.

It's me. You don't recognize me? I don't get it. I have a lot of consideration and sympathy for the Chairman, who was an Italian, and he has a lot of experience to offer. Am I -- I need to speak more into the microphone? I'm sorry. I'm not accustomed to this. So I saw that he presided over the destiny of Chianti Bank, and I found it very interesting. I looked, I opened up a bottle of Chianti already opened, and I saw that they had [Foreign Language]. [Foreign Language] are young people at [Foreign Language]. I just wanted to know if general meetings -- I will have another question afterwards -- if general meetings of PLT Bank, are they as brilliant and detailed as Société Générale's meetings?

Do you have another question?

Well, it's a question. If I could continue, since I had a hard time starting, but afterwards, it's okay. In my region, we say that [Foreign Language] In other words, peasants are not smart enough to think falsely. So what do they think when they buy other banks like Credit Agricole did? They keep the brand. I think you must keep the brand when there is some value to it. For example, Banque Tarneaud, the President of the Banque Tarneaud visited all clients in the region where they were. And all of that should give a certain pricing power with shorter deadlines. And then we have some clients in common, clients in [ TashemaBank ], clients who are attached to the bank. Some would like to have at least 2 banks, because with 1 bank, you're held prisoner, and then you have the question of geography. The branches will be shut down, then you need to make sure you have a bank nearby. So I think you should have done things differently and keep the brands and so that you can have an instrument that has the same means. And next. Next. On Ukraine and Russia, I'm a bit surprised that you are the only one to speak about these events that started on the 23rd of February. So on the 11th of April, we learned that we needed to book some provisions. Have the provisions been booked during the financial year or not? The auditors, did they consider that the provision should not have been booked or could not have been booked with a counterparty risk? The rule for me was prudence. We were told that agreements were signed, okay, fine. But I figure, were they paid in the pocket? You see what I mean? Did we receive anything and in what currency? All of that can change fundamentally. The damages that are already quite significant after this affair.

Thank you. Frederic, would you like to answer the question about Africa?

I will let Philippe answer the question on Africa. Once again, we apologize if we missed out in our relations with you, our loyal clients. It's complicated once you have precise questions. We have colleagues outside waiting for you. Maybe I'll give the floor to Sebastien Proto, who is in charge of merging the networks and who can tell you more about our customer satisfaction commitment, other brands that will be kept, as I said before. To answer your question about Ukraine and Russia. First of all, there are 2 phases in such a transaction. We have the signing, that is what took place in April. And then you have the closing, which will take place, as I said before, in the coming weeks. And that is where you have the transfer of ownership and that is when we receive the amounts that were signed in the agreement. And that takes -- will take place in the coming days. As for the accounting, the accounting impact, it will be significant to P&L, but much more limited in capital because, yes, it's an asset impairment, but at the same time, we're disposing of over EUR 15 billion in assets at risk. So the remaining will be far more modest, enabling the bank to continue to have a good equity base and to grow, of course. But we couldn't account for it in cash, in the first quarter at any rate. I'm speaking subject to my auditors, because at the time the disposal was highly unlikely. In IFRS 5 standards, it would have not have been acceptable. Sebastien, could you tell us more about the merger, customer satisfaction and brands?

Yes. Basically, there are 3 different questions. The first question, sir, about your dissatisfaction, that's not, of course, the service we want to offer to our clients. Customer satisfaction is a goal where we must make progress every day in the company and also Société Générale. That is one of the objectives for retail banking in France and within the [ permac of this ] merger. Now you expressed a very precise request to know your contact, to be sure that the person would stay and would not be changed in the coming weeks, so we will, after this general meeting, provide you with answers and allow you to be able to meet the head of the branch you spoke of in the agency in Boulogne. [ Out ] of the way, the question was that a lady who had a transaction with Vivendi, a very concrete question, and there's someone who's at your disposal to answer you. And in both cases, I will make sure that you obtain answers that will be final so as to satisfy you. And then more broadly speaking, you had questions on our goals when it comes to customer satisfaction, and the goals of this merger, in particular, as regards to regional brands. In terms of customer satisfaction, we have made progress, but we must do even better. We must admit it. And of course we must set goals. Our goal is by between now and 2025, in the next 3 years, we must be amongst the top 3 in France for the key client categories. That calls for an effort with the strategy, I won't go into the details, but 1 simple idea, you must come to the branch when you actually have a need and desire. And when you get into the branch, not necessarily for everyday task, you must have before you an adviser you know, and who is an expert. It sounds simple, but in actual fact, there's a lot to be done to improve on remote transactions and articulation between digital and branches. And then the territorial or local roots, you pointed -- raised that question, your third question. [ put in the form ] of this merger. We're not leaving any cities. Branches will be grouped, but branches who are side-by-side between Crédit du Nord and Société Générale. And thirdly, it's not an absorption of Credit du Nord. Credit du Nord doesn't disappear into -- vanish into Société Générale. Crédit du Nord and Société Générale, from all both of them, we make a new retail banking model. We'll keep the DNA of Crédit du Nord because it took the example of the Tarneaud brand, which will continue. And in the center around Limoges it will be called SG Tarneaud, and we will keep that brand, it dates back to the 18th century, because this illustrates our vision in this merger, we mix 2 models of banks. It's not one disappearing for the benefit of the other. There you have it, Frederic. Philippe, do you have anything to say about health and everything we're doing for health in Africa?

Yes. In terms of financing of infrastructures, we finance hospitals. For example, last year, we were one of the leading investors for a hospital in Benin, EUR 175 million. We also fund vaccination campaigns, not only for COVID-19. In a more general way, we have been very active in managing the difficulties faced by the African continent. I'll give you 1 example. I was recently in touch with one of our managers in Madagascar, who was looking at rebuilding in the aftermath of a hurricane. So that's an example of how we are active to support local communities. And last example, we also provide protection, social protection for all our employees in Africa, for the employees and their families. And then we had 1 question on which -- about the comparison between this general assembly and others. I think we can be very proud of today's meeting, of the quality of the questions and of the answers. I think we've had an interesting debate, thanks to all of you. I would also like to thank the management team for accepting to take all the questions and answering in a detailed way. As Sebastien said, if you have any individual concerns, we have experts available today. Please make sure you talk to them. And hopefully, they will provide you the assistance you need. So this is the end of the debate. We are now going to continue with the vote of the -- on the resolutions. Patrick?

Yes. And we're going to start the resolutions, the vote on resolutions. You've all received a tablet. I will remind you of the purpose of each of the resolutions. The full text of each resolution is included in the Notice of the Meeting and -- so make sure that every single time you validate your vote. This is very important. The quorum is 52.83%, representing 436,986,000 for 25,000-plus shareholders. So I think that this -- so it's 54.84 -- 83, sorry. So we can now move on to the first resolution on the approval of the consolidated financial statements for 2021. The consolidated net accounting income is on the screen. The vote is now open. Please vote. [Voting]

And once again, don't forget to confirm your vote. The vote is now closed. This resolution is carried at 99.261%. Resolution #2, approval of the annual financial statements for 2021. Net income of EUR 1,995 million. The vote is now open. Please vote. And make sure you confirm your vote. [Voting]

The vote is now closed. Resolution 2 is carried at 99.35%. Moving on to Resolution 3, the allocation of the '21 results. Dividends of EUR 1.65 per share, payment on the 25th [ second ] payment on the 27th. Please vote. [Voting]

And again, make sure you do not forget to confirm your vote. The vote is now closed. And Resolution 3 is carried at 99.96%. Resolution 4, the approval of the statutory auditor's report on agreements regulated. Please vote, and please confirm your vote. [Voting]

End of the vote. And Resolution 4 is carried at 99.705%. Moving to Resolution 5, compensation policy of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. This policy remains unchanged and will not be modified if the Chairman is renewed. The vote is now open. [Voting]

Please make sure you confirm your vote. The vote is closed. Carried 94.329%. Moving on to Resolution 6, the remuneration policy of the Chief Executive Officer and the General Manager's delegates. Please vote. Make sure you confirm your vote. [Voting]

End of the vote. And the resolution is carried at 90.134%. Resolution 7, the director compensation policy. It remains unchanged. Please vote. Make sure you confirm your vote. [Voting]

And Resolution 8 -- 7, I'm sorry, is carried at 95.865%. Moving on to Resolution 8. The approval of the report on the compensation of corporate officers. The report, which was presented to you by Jerome Contamine. Please vote. [Voting]

Don't forget to confirm your vote. And this resolution is carried at 91.470%. Moving to Resolution 9, the approval of compensation paid in the year '21 were awarded in respect of '21 to Mr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. Please vote. [Voting]

Resolution 9 is carried at 94.114%. Moving to Resolution 10, the approval of compensation paid in '21 or granted to Mr. Frederic Oudea. Please vote. [Voting]

Resolution 10 is carried at 89.963%. Moving to resolution 11, approval of the compensation for Mr. Philippe Aymerich. Please vote. [Voting]

Make sure you confirm your vote. End of the vote. And the resolution is carried at 90.165%. Resolution 12 now, on the approval of compensation of Mrs. Diony Lebot. Please vote. [Voting]

Make sure you confirm your vote. And the resolution is carried at 90.071%. Moving on now to Resolution 13, the advisory opinion on the compensation paid in '21 to regulated persons. Please vote. [Voting]

Resolution carried at 92.615%. Moving to the resolutions on the -- #14 on the renewal of Mr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi's term of office for a 4-year term. Please vote. And once again, make sure you confirm your vote. [Voting]

Vote carried at 98.016%. Resolution 15, the renewal of the term of office of Mr. Jerome Contamine as Director for a 4-year term. Please vote. Don't forget to confirm your vote. [Voting]

Carried at 97.1%. Moving on to Resolution 16, the reappointment of Mrs. Diane Côté for a 4-year term. Please vote. [Voting]

Don't forget to confirm your vote. Mrs. Côté is renewed with 97.617%. Resolution 17, the authorization to buy back shares up to 10% of the capital for -- so please vote. [Voting]

Resolution carried at 98.848%. Moving to Resolution 18, on delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to increase the share capital, with preferential subscription rights capped at 33% of the capital. Please vote. Make sure you confirm your vote. [Voting]

Resolution carried at 96.415%. Resolution 19, delegation of authority to the Board of Directors to increase the share capital with cancellation of preferential subscription rights with a cap at 10% of the capital. Please vote. [Voting]

Don't forget to confirm your vote once again. Resolution carried at 95.702%. Moving to Resolution 20, delegation of authority of the Board of Directors to increase the capital in consideration for contributions in kind consisting of equity securities or securities giving access to the capital with a 10% cap. Please vote. [Voting]

And don't forget to confirm your vote. Resolution 20 is carried at 97.550%. Moving to Resolution 21, authorization to grant free shares to the shareholders of the company regulated or similar persons with a cap of 1.2% of the capital -- 1.5%, I'm sorry, for 26 months. Please vote. [Voting]

Please confirm your vote. The Resolution is carried at 98.564%. Moving to Resolution 22, the authorization to grant free shares with the limit of 26 months, 1.2% of the capital. Please vote. So this is Resolution 22. [Voting]

Please confirm. Resolution 22 is carried at 96.229%. Resolution 23 now, authorization to grant free shares, except to regulated persons or assimilated with a cap of 0.5% of capital for a 26-month period. Please vote. [Voting]

Please confirm. Resolution is carried at 98.485%. Moving to Resolution 24, authorization to cancel shares with a maximum of 10% of the capital for each period of 24 months. Please vote. [Voting]

Make sure you confirm your vote. Resolution carried at 98.986%. Moving to Resolution 25, which is the last 1, on powers. Please vote. [Voting]

Please make sure you confirm your final vote. And the vote is closed. Resolution carried at 99.714%. Mr. Chairman, so much for the resolutions.

Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your votes, which show your confidence. As I said, in 2023 the general assembly will be held on May 23. We have not yet decided on a location, but we will try to organize it closer to La Defense. Many thanks again, make sure you drop off your tablets on your way out, and we have a small gift as well. And hopefully, we will see you again next year. Many thanks. Have a pleasant evening. Bye-bye. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]