PARIS, April 2 Reuters Societe Generale, France39;s thirdbiggest listed bank, and U.S. asset manager AllianceBernstein officially launched their joint venture in the cash equities and equity research businesses, the two companies said on Tuesday.

WHY IT39;S IMPORTANT

The move, initiated by SocGen39;s CEO Slawomir Krupa shortly before he took the reins of the French bank, is part of the company39;s efforts to keep up with bigger competitors such as BNP Paribas in France and leading Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

CONTEXT

The lender is hoping the joint venture will help it gain more clients, notably in the realm of initial public offerings IPOs, and expand beyond its core markets in Europe.

It follows French rival BNP Paribas, which expanded its equity research house Exane in the United States after the euro zone39;s biggest lender took it over in 2021.

KEY QUOTES

This joint venture illustrates Societe Generale39;s capability to develop innovative pathways to further expand our client offering as we increase our value proposition for the benefit of our investor and issuer clients, leverage synergies within our Group, and grow our revenues sustainably, Krupa said.

Through this joint venture, Bernstein can continue to build out a cash equities and research business that seeks to set the standard for delivering global investment expertise and an even stronger set of products and services for global clients, AllianceBernstein CEO Seth Bernstein said….