Head of Global Markets in the Americas

François Barthelemy has been Head of the Markets in the Americas since July 2009. Previously, he was Head of Global Equities & Derivatives Solutions in the Americas since January 2007. He first joined Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in 1990 as an Equity Derivatives trader in Paris. In 1992, he joined the Equity Derivatives Trading Group in New York and became Head of Trading for Equity Derivatives in 1996. In 2007, he was appointed Head of Global Equities and Derivatives Solutions in New York.

Barthelemy holds a master's degree in Engineering and Finance from École Centrale Paris.

Group Country Head for the United Kingdom

Ian Fisher was appointed Group Country Head for the United Kingdom in April 2009 and is a member of the Group Management Committee.
After qualifying as a solicitor, Fisher spent several years in private practice before embarking on a career in banking at Crédit Lyonnais UK, where he was appointed UK Legal Adviser. Prior to joining Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, Ian spent nine years within Citibank Europe, where he held various positions in the Capital market division, including Head of the Loan Syndicate Deal Management Team. Fisher joined Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in April 1996 as Global Head of Loan Syndicate. In 2001, following the merger of Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking Debt Capital Markets and Financing divisions, he was given the responsibility for Global Debt Syndicate. In 2007, he was named Global Head of Syndication.
Fisher attended Nottingham University where he studied law and earned an LLB (Hons).

CEO of Société Générale Americas

Diony Lebot was named CEO of Société Générale Americas in 2007. Diony Lebot first joined Société Générale in 1986 and has spent most of her career in the bank’s structured finance businesses. In 1997 she was appointed Deputy Head of the Financial Engineering department (covering securitization, financial engineering and leasing) before being appointed Global Head of Asset Finance in 2001. She was appointed Head of Corporate Coverage in Europe for the firm’s Corporates & Institutions division in September 2004 and became a member of Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking’s Executive Committee at the end of 2006.

Diony Lebot graduated from University Panthéon Sorbonne in Paris, and holds a DESS (Masters) in Finance and Tax.

Chief Country Officer for Italy

Giovanni Ortolani was appointed Chief Country Officer for Italy in July 2007.
Ortolani began his career at European Banking Company Limited in London in 1975. He then became Capital Markets specialist at Continental Illinois Bank & Trust and Bankers Trust London, before being appointed Managing Director and Country Manager for Bankers Trust Company. In 1991, he moved to Meridiana Finanza in Rome where he became CEO. He joined UBS Investment Bank, where he was appointed Global Head of Project Finance in 1997 and was then responsible for public and corporate client coverage in Italy in 2000. He joined Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking as Senior Banker and Head of public sector coverage in Italy in 2005.

Ortolani graduated from the University of Naples and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Chief Country Officer for Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking Korea

Charles Pierron was appointed Chief Country Officer for Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking Korea in 2008.

Pierron started his career at Société Générale Paris in 1972 and moved to the loans department in London, where he worked from 1981 to 1985. Then, he became Deputy General Manager of SG CIB's Singapore branch and moved to the United States in 1989, first as a Regional Manager in Chicago, and then as a Senior Marketing Executive in New York. He went back to Singapore as Chief Executive Officer in 1994 and to New York as Head of Corporates, Institutions and Advisory division for the Americas in 1998. In 2000 he took the position of General Manager of the Corporate Business Centre in Lyon, France. Subsequently, he became Chief Country Officer for Poland from 2003 to 2005, for Germany from 2005 to 2008 and for Korea. In parallel, Pierron has been an adviser to the French Ministry of International Trade since 1999.

Pierron gradutated from the Centre d'Études Supérieures de Banque in Paris, and from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Chief Country Officer for Société Générale Coporate & Investment Banking in Germany

Francis Repka was appointed Chief Country Officer for Société Générale Coporate & Investment Banking in Germany in October 2008. He was formerly Head of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodity Division for Asia in Japan.

Prior to joining Société Générale's commercial banking division in 1986, Repka was a Commercial Attaché to the French Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 1985. At SG CIB, Repka was involved in proprietary trading of interest rate products focusing on options and derivatives between 1986 and 1989. From 1989 to 1993, Repka was Head of the Structured Products Group and was responsible for setting up the group to develop tailor-made and client-driven solutions.  During that time, he pioneered the Capital Guaranteed Equity Linked Bond in the French market and was instrumental in setting up a private placement group in Japan. In 1993, he was appointed Head of Global Fixed Income, Emerging Markets for SG CIB. Since 2001 he has been responsible for treasury, fixed income, currencies and commodities derivatives in Asia, based in Hong Kong. He was Associate Professor at Paris IX University and CNAM-Paris specialising respectively in Law and Financial Markets during most of the 1980s and 1990s.

Repka graduated from HEC-Paris School of Management in 1983 with a Master of Sciences.

Head of Global Finance for the Americas

Bill Schmid was appointed Head of Global Finance for the United States in July 2009. Previously, he was heading the Capital Raising and Financing activities since January 2007.
Schmid began his banking career at JP Morgan in 1977 and moved to Barclays in 1980, working in the energy sector. He joined Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in 1983 in Houston as a corporate finance energy lender and later ran the bank's Houston energy practice. In 1999, Schmid moved to Europe as Head of European Project Finance, and in 2003 became Global Head of Project Finance.

Head of Global Markets for Asia Pacific

Andrew Wardle was named Head of Global Markets for Asia Pacific in July 2009. Previously, Andrew Wardle was heading the Fixed Income Currencies and Commodities Division for Asia-Pacific since 2007.

From 2002 to 2005, Andrew Wardle held the function of Managing Director in SG Australia Branch, before being appointed Head of the Fixed Income and Derivatives team. He was responsible for management of trading and sales activities of fixed income, currencies and commodities department). He was then named Head of Debt and Financing activities in SG Sydney in 2005.

Andrew Wardle holds a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, Sydney.

Head of Global Finance for Asia Pacific

Ashley Wilkins was appointed Head of Global Finance for Asia Pacific in July 2009. Previously, he headed the Capital Raising & Financing division in Asia, since October 2007.

Wilkins joined Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in 1996 to lead Project Finance, Advisory and Real Estate operations in Asia. Prior to joining SG CIB in 1996, he worked for NatWest Markets leading their project finance, advisory and syndication businesses in Asia starting in 1989. Before that, he worked for NatWest Markets and County Bank in London.

Wilkins studied at the Wolfson College and Cambridge University. He also has a BSc (Hons) from Manchester University and a MBA from the Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.