SocGen chief says European banks ‘fundamentally’ safer than US
Financial Times
23-05-12 18:20
Outgoing Société Générale CEO Frédéric Oudéa has claimed that strong regulation puts European banks at less risk than their counterparts in the US, who lack supervision in some areas, especially SME banking. Despite banks from Silicon Valley and Credit Suisse coming close to collapse, second tier and regional European banks have not suffered the same level of risk. Commercial real estate has also been concerning for the industry; it accounts for 8% of the loan books at European lenders, but 18% for US banks and 36% for mid-cap lenders in the US.