SocGen raises provisions for legal disputes

[PARIS] French bank Societe Generale (SocGen) said on Friday that resolving two legal disputes with US authorities was a matter of the coming weeks and months, as it tacked on 300 million euros (S$476.1 million) to its litigation reserves.

SocGen also reported a 15 per cent fall in third-quarter net income to 932 million euros, that came below analysts' estimates of one billion euros, according to a Reuters poll.

"Societe Generale is currently in discussions with the US authorities over two litigations, LIA (Libya Investment Authority) and IBOR in order to reach an agreement to resolve these matters, and has decided, as a precautionary measure, to increase the provision for disputes," the bank said in a statement, adding that the overall amount of its litigation provisions reached 2.2 billion euros.

"A resolution of these two matters could be reached in the coming weeks or months."

REUTERS