The boss of the French banking giant has told CNBC that the European banking sector could absorb a restructuring of Greek debt, whatever form it took.
“The impact is overstated on the banking sector… it's a relatively small debt. It depends a lot on what format it could take, but again, it's pretty well spread,” said Frédéric Oudéa in an interview with CNBC aired on Monday.
“And I think, personally, the European banking sector is able to absorb whatever form, if it takes place, of restructuring. I don't think it will happen soon, and again, I think the priority is to put the house in order,” he added.
With investors nervous about the amount of Greek debt sitting on banks' balance sheetsacross Europe, Oudéa dismissed fears his own bank could face problems if Greece did restructure.
“A name like Société Générale has absolutely no issue in terms of liquidity. I can expect of course smaller banks in countries with more difficulties might face a different situation, but certainly in our case, it is not an issue,” he said.
Ahead of the publishing of results from a new round of stress tests for Europe's banksOudéa said some smaller banks may have issues, which governments and regulators are dealing with.
“I think the situation is actually pretty clear, there are some banks — some small banks probably — which need more capital, and where situations are being handled — in Spain, in Germany — and then the large banks are now doing well. Just look at the profits. And I don't see a major risk on that,” said Oudéa.
