SocGen reaches settlement with U.S. regulators over messaging probe

SocGen reaches settlement with U.S. regulators over messaging probe

PARIS (Reuters) – Societe Generale, France’s third-biggest listed bank, has reached a settlement with U.S. securities regulators amid a probe over the use of messaging platforms, the lender said in its first half financial report released on Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021 began examining how Wall Street banks were keeping track of employees’ digital communications, including email and apps like WhatsApp.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) later also examined the issue, bank disclosures showed.

“SGAS (SG Americas Securities) has reached a settlement with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), and Societe Generale and SGAS have reached a settlement with the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission),” SocGen said in the report.

“As of the date of this update, both settlements were pending formal regulatory approval.”

SocGen, which had said earlier this year that it had been drawn into the probe, didn’t elaborate on the nature of the settlement.

French bigger rival BNP Paribas said last week it was set to resolve the same U.S. probe.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Ingrid Melander)