Become a client

Are you a client? You should contact your private banker. 
You are not a client but would like to have more information about Societe Generale Private Banking? Please fill in the form below.

Local contacts

France: +33 (0)1 53 43 87 00 (9am - 6pm)
Luxembourg: +352 47 93 11 1 (8:30am - 5:30pm)
Monaco: +377 97 97 58 00 (9/12am - 2/5pm)
Switzerland: Geneva +41 22 819 02 02
& Zurich +41 44 218 56 11 (8:30am - 5:30pm)

You would like to contact us about the protection of your personal data?

Please contact the Data Protection Officer of Societe Generale Private Banking France by sending an email to the following address: protectiondesdonnees@societegenerale.fr.

Please contact the Data Protection Officer of Societe Generale Luxembourg by sending an email to the following address: lux.dpooffice@socgen.com.

For customers residing in Italy, please contact BDO, the external provider in charge of Data Protection, by sending an email to the following address: lux.dpooffice-branch-IT@socgen.com

Please contact the Data Protection Officer of Societe Generale Private Banking Monaco by sending an email to the following address: list.mon-privmonaco-dpo@socgen.com

Please contact the Data Protection Officer of Societe Generale Private Banking Switzerland by sending an email to the following address : ch-dataprotection@socgen.com

You need to make a claim?

Societe Generale Private Banking aims to provide you with the best possible quality of service. However, difficulties may sometimes arise in the operation of your account or in the use of the services made available to you.

Your private banker  is your privileged contact to receive and process your claim.

 If you disagree with or do not get a response from your advisor, you can send your claim to the direction  of Societe Generale Private Banking France by email to the following address: FR-SGPB-Relations-Clients@socgen.com or by mail to: 

Société Générale Private Banking France
29 boulevard Haussmann CS 614
75421 Paris Cedex 9

Societe Generale Private Banking France undertakes to acknowledge receipt of your claim within 10 (ten) working days from the date it is sent and to provide you with a response within 2 (two) months from the same date. If we are unable to meet this 2 (two) month deadline, you will be informed by letter.

In the event of disagreement with the bank  or of a lack of response from us within 2 (two) months of sending your first written claim, or within 15 (fifteen) working days for a claim about a payment service, you may refer the matter free of charge, depending on the nature of your claim, to:  

 

The Consumer Ombudsman at the FBF

The Consumer Ombudsman at the Fédération Bancaire Française (FBF – French Banking Federation) is competent for disputes relating to services provided and contracts concluded in the field of banking operations (e.g. management of deposit accounts, credit operations, payment services etc.), investment services, financial instruments and savings products, as well as the marketing of insurance contracts.

The FBF Ombudsman will reply directly to you within 90 (ninety) days from the date on which she/he receives all the documents on which the request is based. In the event of a complex dispute, this period may be extended. The FBF Ombudsman will formulate a reasoned position and submit it to both parties for approval.

The FBF Ombudsman can be contacted on the following website: www.lemediateur.fbf.fr or by mail at:

Le Médiateur de la Fédération Bancaire Française
CS 151
75422 Paris CEDEX 09

 

The Ombudsman of the AMF

The Ombudsman of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF - French Financial Markets Authority) is also competent for disputes relating to investment services, financial instruments and financial savings products.

For this type of dispute, as a consumer customer, you have therefore a choice between the FBF Ombudsman and the AMF Ombudsman. Once you have chosen one of these two ombudsmen, you can no longer refer the same dispute to the other ombudsman.

The AMF Ombudsman can be contacted on the AMF website: www.amf-france.org/fr/le-mediateur or by mail at:

Médiateur de l'AMF, Autorité des Marchés Financiers
17 place de la Bourse
75082 PARIS CEDEX 02
FRANCE


The Insurance Ombudsman

The Insurance Ombudsman is competent for disputes concerning the subscription, application or interpretation of insurance contracts.

The Insurance Ombudsman can be contacted using the contact details that must be mentioned in your insurance contract.

To ensure that your requests are handled effectively, any claim addressed to Societe Generale Luxembourg should be sent to:

Private banking Claims department
11, Avenue Emile Reuter
L-2420 Luxembourg

Or by email to clienteleprivee.sglux@socgen.com and for customers residing in Italy at societegenerale@unapec.it

The Bank will acknowledge your request within 10 working days and provide a response to your claim within 30 working days of receipt. If your request requires additional processing time (e.g. if it involves complex research), the Bank will inform you of this situation within the same 30-working day timeframe.

In the event that the response you receive does not meet your expectations, we suggest the following:

Initially, you may wish to contact the Societe Generale Luxembourg Division responsible for handling claims, at the following address:

Corporate Secretariat of Societe Generale Luxembourg
11, Avenue Emile Reuter
L-2420 Luxembourg

If the response from the Division responsible for claims does not resolve the claim, you may wish to contact Societe Generale Luxembourg's supervisory authority, the “Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier”/“CSSF” (Luxembourg Financial Sector Supervisory Commission):

By mail: 283, Route d’Arlon L-1150 Luxembourg
By email:
direction@cssf.lu

Any claim addressed to Societe Generale Private Banking Monaco should be sent by e-mail to the following address: servicequalite.privmonaco@socgen.com or by mail to our dedicated department: 

Societe Generale Private Banking Monaco
Middle Office – Service Réclamation 
11 avenue de Grande Bretagne
98000 Monaco

The Bank will acknowledge your request within 2 working days after receipt and provide a response to your claim within a maximum of 30 working days of receipt. If your request requires additional processing time (e.g. if it involves complex researches…), the Bank will inform you of this situation within the same 30-working day timeframe. 

In the event that the response you receive does not meet your expectations, we suggest to contact the Societe Generale Private Banking Direction that handles the claims by mail at the following address: 

Societe Generale Private Banking Monaco
Secrétariat Général
11 avenue de Grande Bretagne 
98000 Monaco

Any claim addressed to the Bank can be sent by email to:

sgpb-reclamations.ch@socgen.com
 

Clients may also contact the Swiss Banking Ombudsman: 

www.bankingombudsman.ch

 

Understanding art price indices

How are art price indices constructed and what are they for? Laurent Issaurat, Head of Art Banking at Societe Generale Private Banking, spoke to expert Jean Minguet, Head of Econometrics at Artprice. A subsidiary of Artmarket.com, Artprice is a world leading database of art listings and indices (paintings, stamps, drawings, sculpture, photographs, etc.).

Laurent Issaurat: How does Artprice construct its price indices?

Jean Minguet: The role of an index is to show how prices have evolved over a given period. In the art world, an index must always be applied to an ensemble of works that is sufficiently homogeneous for the exercise to have any meaning. This could be a particular art form, like sculpture, a particular movement, like impressionism, or the works of a specific artist in order to track how their prices have evolved.

There are several methods for constructing indices on the art market, the most solid of these without a doubt being the “repeat-sales method”. The first step of this method is to identify within a defined homogeneous set of artworks all those that have been sold at least twice at auction over a given period. This allows us to observe how very specific prices for equally specific works have evolved. Once enough pairs of results have been collected over the full period, we can then calculate the curve that best tracks their progression. The repeat-sales method was developed by university researchers, alongside a second, fundamentally different approach called the “hedonic method”, which models the influence of a set of criteria (size, technique, year of creation, theme, etc.) on the price of each piece, in order to estimate the influence of time.

Laurent Issaurat: Which of these methods do you use at Artprice?

Jean Minguet: We prefer the repeat-sales method. It requires more results but it is far more direct as it does not depend on an underlying model. To increase the number of viable pairs of results, it is possible to form additional pairs by identifying similar works: for example, two lots from the same artist, of the same size and the same year, using the same technique, with roughly the same title. It is a sound assumption at scale and provided that all the works are taken into account methodically.

Laurent Issaurat: How is a price index useful to owners, buyers, and sellers of art?

Jean Minguet: The biggest draw of this tool is the overview it gives of price trends: when prices went up, when they came back down, and the extremity of these movements. This kind of information is crucial for anyone wanting to understand and get into the market. Again, a price index is a tool for reading the market and looking at the influencing factors at play.

Case in point: a price index tracking the work of a particular artist. It must always be put into perspective with the artist’s career which can affect their popularity. Let’s say the artist produces a new series of work. It is exhibited at a prestigious gallery, is included in an exhibition or biennale, a monograph is published, etc. The price index will prove an excellent tool for tracing the artist’s career and observing how the market has responded to various events and stimuli.

Laurent Issaurat: Can you give us an example?

Jean Minguet: Based on the price index calculated for the standalone pieces (paintings and drawings) of the artist Christopher Wool, for example, we can ascertain that between 2000 and 2016 prices overall have increased by a factor of nearly 30. But that's not all. The curve also reflects the influence of the Gagosian and Simon Lee gallery exhibitions, as well as Wool’s solo exhibitions in Porto, Cologne, and Paris, before the consecration of his work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

It is always interesting to compare a price index with the price an actual piece. Christopher Wool’s Untitled (1990, alkyd and graphite on paper), bought for US$35,000 in May 2000, was sold for US$ 2.4 million in May 2015. In the spring of 2018, it went back under the hammer with an estimated value of US$2.5 - 3.5 million. However, biddings did not reach the reserve price, which was probably around US$2 million. The track record of the work supports Artprice’s index. Tracking the evolution of the same shape as the index curve very clearly illustrates the value accretion of Wool’s work between 2000 and 2015, before a slight contraction between 2015 and 2018. The variation of its price even exceeds the price of Christopher Wool’s entire collection of paintings and drawings between 2000 and 2015 (the work may have sold particularly well) before going down again.

Laurent Issaurat: Is the artist’s background considered when estimating their trajectory on the market?

Jean Minguet: A price index does not dispense with delving into the personal history of an artist, getting to know their work, their life, their technique. Ultimately, this knowledge is how we decipher the price index. Moreover, it is used to determine the most homogeneous ensemble of work possible for the purposes of calculation. All told, a price index provides information that supplements standard expertise by giving an evaluation of the market. But there is always a lot more to it than that.

Laurent Issaurat: What other data needs to be included?

Jean Minguet: From a purely economic perspective, there are other factors like the liquidity of works — or the balance between supply and demand. To establish how rare an artist’s works are, and how many potential buyers there are, several indicators needs to be analysed: the number of lots sold, the ratio of unsold work, the percentage of lots that exceeded estimates, and the recency of the latest price record. Another important factor is to understand the market structure of each artist, and in particular their geographic distribution. Some masterpieces only go to auction once or twice a year, only in New York and London, while other artists have a very localised or regional market, with only a few auction houses used to selling their work. Of course, none of this information in included in price indices.

Laurent Issaurat: What do the price indices tell us about the trends on the art market over the next 20 to 30 years?

Jean Minguet: I cannot emphasise enough how important homogeneity is when calculating the price index of an ensemble of work. That said, it is possible to study the overall price trends of the art market as a whole.

Artprice does this every quarter and publishes the results for free. We call these the Global Indices. Among other things, the Global Indices offer an interesting comparison between the main segments of the art market by providing a breakdown by medium and by period of creation. Of note, the indices reveal that the last 25 years of post-war art and contemporary have outperformed earlier periods. Which is not all that surprising, considering that it was mainly for the artists of these periods that value began to appreciate in the early 21st century, in step with their careers and as the art market gradually gained recognition. Christopher Wool, whom I mentioned earlier, is one such artist. 

But this rise in value has slowed in recent years. In-depth research have shown that many contemporary artists (born after 1945) have now reached the peak of their fame. There are but a few still being discovered, particularly among the ultra-contemporary artists (under 40) who are driving price growth. Yet more and more smaller works are making the rounds on the art market, such as prints and multiples by Jeff Koons, Banksy, or Yayoi Kusama, which were not traded as frequently before and which, in a way, dilute the rise in prices. As academic research shows, the value of the most beautiful works usually appreciates faster and more substantially than for other works — a phenomenon known as the Masterpiece Effect.

Would you like to discuss this subject further with us?

GENERAL DISCLAIMER :

Societe Generale Private Banking is the business line of the Societe Generale Group operating through its headquarters within Societe Generale S.A. and through departments, branches or subsidiaries, located in the territories mentioned below, acting under the brand name "Societe Generale Private Banking" and distributing this document.

This document, which is of an advertising nature, has no contractual value. Its content is not intended to provide an investment service, nor does it constitute investment advice or a personalized recommendation on a financial product, nor insurance advice or a personalized recommendation, nor a solicitation of any kind, nor legal, accounting or tax advice from any entity under the responsibility of Société Générale Private Banking.

The information contained herein is provided for information purposes only, is subject to change without notice, and is intended to provide information that may be useful in making a decision. The information on past performance that may be reproduced in no way guarantees future performance.

The private bankers of Société Générale Private Banking entities are at the disposal of potential investors to provide them with further information on the variations, within the Société Générale Private Banking entity concerned, of the themes presented in this document.

This document is confidential, intended exclusively for the person consulting it, and may not be communicated or brought to the attention of third parties, nor may it be reproduced in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the Société Générale Private Banking entity concerned.

No Société Générale Private Banking entity may be held liable for any decision taken by an investor solely on the basis of the information contained in this document.

Société Générale Group maintains an effective administrative organization that takes all necessary measures to identify, control and manage conflicts of interest. To this end, Societe Generale Private Banking entities have put in place a conflict of interest policy to manage and prevent conflicts of interest. For more details, Societe Generale Private Banking clients can refer to the conflict of interest policy available on request from their private banker.

Societe Generale Private Banking has also implemented a client complaint handling policy, which is available on request from their private banker or on the Societe Generale Private Banking website (www.privatebanking.societegenerale.com).

SPECIFIC WARNINGS BY JURISDICTION

France: Unless expressly stated otherwise, this document is published and distributed by Société Générale, a French bank authorized and supervised by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, located at 4, place de Budapest, CS 92459, 75436 Paris Cedex 09, under the prudential supervision of the European Central Bank ("ECB") and registered with the ORIAS as an insurance intermediary under the number 07 022 493 orias.fr Societe Generale is a French société anonyme with a capital of EUR 1,010,261,206.25 as of February 1, 2023, whose registered office is located at 29, boulevard Haussmann, 75009 Paris, and whose unique identification number is 552 120 222 R.C.S. Paris. Further details are available on request or at www.privatebanking.societegenerale.com. 

Luxembourg: This document is distributed in Luxembourg by Société Générale Luxembourg, a société anonyme registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number B 6061 and a credit institution authorized and regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier ("CSSF"), under the prudential supervision of the European Central Bank ("ECB"), and having its registered office at 11, avenue Emile Reuter - L 2420 Luxembourg  Further details are available on request or at www.societegenerale.lu. No investment decision whatsoever should be made solely on the basis of this document. Société Générale Luxembourg accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of the information contained in this document. Societe Generale Luxembourg accepts no responsibility for any actions taken by the recipient of this document solely on the basis of this document, and Societe Generale Luxembourg does not represent itself as providing any advice, in particular with respect to investment services. The opinions, views and forecasts expressed in this document (including its annexes) reflect the personal views of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of any other person or Société Générale Luxembourg, unless otherwise stated. This document has been prepared by Société Générale.  The CSSF has not carried out any analysis, verification or control on the content of this document.  

Monaco: This document is distributed in Monaco by Société Générale Private Banking (Monaco) S.A.M., located at 11 avenue de Grande Bretagne, 98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco, regulated by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution and the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières. Financial products marketed in Monaco may be reserved for qualified investors in accordance with the provisions of Law n° 1.339 of 07/09/2007 and Sovereign Order n° 1.285 of 10/09/2007.  Further details are available on request or on www.privatebanking.societegenerale.com.

Switzerland: This document may constitute advertising within the meaning of the Law on Financial Services ("LSFin"). It is distributed in Switzerland by SOCIETE GENERALE Private Banking (Suisse) SA ("SGPBS" or the "Bank"), whose registered office is at rue du Rhône 8, CH-1204 Geneva. SGPBS is a bank authorized by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). This document may in no way be considered as an investment advice or recommendation by SGPBS. The Bank recommends obtaining professional advice before acting or not acting on the basis of this document and does not accept any liability in connection with the content of this document. Financial instruments, including in particular units in collective investments and structured products, may only be offered in accordance with the LSFin. Further information is available on request from SGPBS or at www.privatebanking.societegenerale.com.

This document is not distributed by SG Kleinwort Hambros Bank Limited in the United Kingdom, nor by its branches in Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar, which together operate under the brand name "Kleinwort Hambros". Accordingly, the information provided and any offers, activities and financial and asset information presented do not relate to these entities and may not be authorized by these entities or appropriate in these jurisdictions. Further information on the activities of Societe Generale's private banking entities located in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, including additional legal and regulatory information, is available at www.kleinworthambros.com

Laurent Issaurat