3,438,519.02 euros.
This is the total amount of damage suffered by customers who were victims of “deceptive commercial practices” for which Société Générale agreed, with the agreement of the Nanterre Public Prosecutor's Office, to pay a settlement fine of 4.5 million euros. euros, as revealed by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) on Monday.
⚠️ Following investigations carried out by the DDPP92, a transactional fine in the amount of 4.5 million euros was accepted by Société Générale for misleading commercial practice 👇https://t.co/m1SJz0bKmB pic.twitter .com/BhutwAsMlL
— DGCCRF (@dgccrf) January 22, 2024
As specified by the prosecution, this sanction follows an investigation carried out by the departmental directorate for the protection of populations of Hauts-de-Seine (DDPP 92), between April 2019 and January 2021. This revealed that an establishment of the Société Générale group, in Nanterre, charged unjustified bank charges in connection with the invoicing of intervention commissions taken from the customer in the event of an irregularity in the operation of his bank account.
The victims were reimbursed
“Societe Generale recognized the undue nature of these fees, because they were imposed when the accounts were not in debt, (…) while affirming that it was an error with no intention of deceiving the customer,” indicates the Nanterre parquet.
The amount of proceeds from the offense over the prevention period retained (April 2019-December 2021) was 3,438,519.02 euros.
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The system in question was modified in April 2022 and “the individuals concerned were reimbursed”, attests Ghislaine Camazon, director of DDPP 92, without specifying the number of victims of the offense.
The amount of the administrative fine, which it considers "particularly significant", was set by the Nanterre public prosecutor's office "taking into account the amount of the damage, the duration of the offense and the impact on consumers".
The latter also took into account “the cooperation of the bank and the cessation of the fraudulent practice, such as the full reimbursement of customers”, to determine the level of the fine.