 In 2012, CEO Frédéric Oudéa said that Société Générale withdrew from all countries belonging to the grey list of tax havens compiled by the OECD, including Panama.Despite this previous statement, Mr Oudéa defended that those offshore companies were not meant to be used as tax evasion vehicles.In January 2017, Société Générale agreed to pay $50 million to settle a claim by the American government of fraudulent concealment of residential mortgage-backed securities quality.