When Didier Valet moved from being Société Générale’s chief financial officer to take over the bank’s investment banking operations in 2012, much was due to change within the French financial institution.
A sluggish recovery in the eurozone, volatile emerging markets as well as ever-higher regulatory barriers, forcing banks to hold more capital, were putting pressure on the profitability of banks. “Since the crisis, our industry has become much more selective,” says Mr Valet, whose official title is head of corporate and investment banking, private banking, asset management and securities services and global investment management and services. “You need to have superior capabilities to compete in each market,” he adds.
