Société Générale announced on Monday that it had completed the legal merger of its two retail banking networks in France, with the launch of a single "SG" brand to replace Société Générale and Crédit du Nord.

Announced in principle at the end of 2020, the merger of the two is expected to result in 3,700 net job losses between 2023 and 2025.

"Branch consolidations will begin in the second half of 2023, with a first stage of 150 mergers," the French bank said in a statement. "80% of the groupings will be completed by the end of 2024, and 100% before the end of 2025."

Société Générale also states that the new "SG" brand will be gradually rolled out on the fronts of its branches, with a first stage of 1,000 branches concerned by the end of 2023.

(Written by Matthieu Protard, edited by Kate Entringer)