Is Société Générale a French bank?

The Société Générale is a French banking group, one of the three big in France. It was founded in 1864, Paris. Now, it's head office is in La Défense, in the France, in the building known as Tours Chassagne et Alicante. Although it is a French Bank, it owns lots of banks in other countries around the world.

When was Société Générale founded?

The bank was founded by a group of industrialists and financiers during the Second Empire on 4 May 1864. Its full name was Société Générale pour favoriser le développement du commerce et de l'industrie en France ("General Company to Support the Development of Commerce and Industry in France").

Why did Société Générale change its name?

Because the Société Générale de Belgique predated its French namesake and had a dominant position in the national market, Société Générale agreed to create a bank with a different name, the Société Française de Banque et de Dépôts headquartered in Paris but entirely dedicated to operations in Belgium.