Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. The pandemic has led us to organize this meeting without your actual presence. We do hope that we will meet at the next opportunity. You have nevertheless received all useful information for you to be able to vote within the normal timeframe. As you know, the only decision impacted by this crisis relates to dividend. You know why. The European Central Bank relayed governments convictions and strongly recommended that banks should not pay out any dividend before the 1st of October. Therefore, the board on the 31st of March, has decided to propose to your meeting to pay out dividend for 2019, and this payment was not possible before the 30th of September. The board of directors did not decide after that date to pay out any interim dividend or any exceptional dividend.
A decision will be taken after the results for the first half have been published, taken based on the decisions to be made by the European Central Bank in autumn. You sent in written questions by electronic means included, many of you voted because we have reached a quorum of 62.67%, a record. It is now time to open up this general meeting, held at first notice according to the official Gazette, that was made on the 15th of April 2021. The general meeting, the joint general meeting can therefore be duly held. During this meeting, as usual, we will address the result. That will be done by Diony Lebot, Director General. We'll talk about strategy with Frédéric Oudéa. We'll speak about corporate governance and compensation with Jean-Bernard Lévy, the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and myself, we'll thereafter vote on the resolutions.
Philippe Aymerich will also present how the Group in France has been able to manage its branches and customer relations during this very difficult period. We'll also answer five written questions. All written questions and the answers will be available on the website for this general meeting. We will also answer the different issues addressed to us after the survey carried out with you. They are clear and correspond to the main concerns following from the crisis. We'd like to look at the consequences of this you as shareholders, and to look at the strategy and value creation in the current context. The four general managers are present. Diony Lebot, in charge of Risk, Finance, and Compliance. Philippe Aymerich, in charge of Retail Banking in France and Technological Innovation and IT, as well as Group Resources.
Cabannes, in charge of Supervising Large Customer Relations and Large Investor, Philippe Heim, in charge of International Retail Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance. The members of the board were all called upon by phone or via the Internet to attend. We now form the bureau for our general meeting and were appointed as vote tellers the two shareholders who accepted and who have in them the largest number of votes per se or through representatives. The Société Générale Fund, represented by Mr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Mr. Bernard Sassmann, Deputy Secretary General of the Group. We thank them for their approval, and we suggest that as Secretary of the meeting, we should appoint Patrick Suet, General Secretary of the Board of Directors.
Let me point out that as needs be, given the technical constraints linked to this lockdown, the board has decided that Frédéric Oudéa may act as Chairman for the smooth running of this meeting. The statutory auditors were convened according to law and regulations. I'm referring to Mr. Michard, Ms. Attian, representing Ernst & Young and others, and Mr. Jean-Marc Mickeler, representing Deloitte & Associés. I hold at your disposal on the bureau of our meeting, the official documents listed up here. Let me add that the documents, information to be given according to law. The list is also stated here. We regularly put online on Société Générale's website, and were sent to the shareholders, then were kept at the disposal of the shareholders at our headquarters each year. Our discussions are broadcast live on the internet and may be viewed on our website. You can also follow them over the phone.
No, I'm sorry. Before giving the floor to General Management, I would like to send out several messages directly on my behalf. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you the best possible health in the face of this unprecedented pandemic since one century now. To Group employees and General Management, I'd like to express our gratitude for the professionalism that they showed throughout this crisis. You should know that our number 1 concern was the safety of each and every one of you, and your good health. To our clients, I'd like to express our total commitment to support them throughout the crisis. Lastly, once we are back to a good health situation, our activity will no longer be the same. The context will be different, because states expect of banks not only to drive funding, but also to be active in promoting a recovery.
The different players will have to review the rules, and will have to define a new model and a new financial pathway. With General Management, the Board is already working hard so that based on what has been adopted in January 2020, I am referring to the need to build together with our customers a brighter, sustainable future, providing responsible and innovative financial solutions. To begin this general meeting, I will give the floor, first of all, to Diony Lebot to present the results for 2019 and for the first quarter of this year. Over to you. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. In the particular context described by our chairman of an unprecedented crisis, let me present the results for 2019. In 2019, the Group continued its transformation with great determination and posted results in line with the objectives it had set for 2019.
The assessment is characterized by strengthening of the Group's equity and its financial strength, which are essential elements in light of the COVID-19 crisis we are facing. As you know, the first effect marked the results for the first quarter 2020, which I will come back to later on, of course. To begin with, in 2019, while the environment remained unfavorable, both on interest rates and on the financial markets, we managed to achieve all the objectives we had set ourselves, both financial and extra-financial. Results for 2019 reflect the good commercial dynamics of the business lines and our strict cost discipline and our good risk control. We have continued to refocus our activities on our areas of strength, applied great discipline in terms of organic growth, and implemented the announced restructuring of some of our capital market activities.
These actions have enabled us to strengthen our shareholders' equity, resulting in a significant improvement in our solvency ratio, which rose from 10.9% at the end of 2018 to 12.7% at the end of 2019. This was our number one priority. Our capital and liquidity ratios as a whole are well above regulatory requirements. The actions carried out in all our businesses have improved the Group's profitability. Net banking income of the business lines were resilient in 2019 at EUR 24.8 billion, down slightly by 0.8%, thus illustrating the good performance of all our business lines. In 2019, we continued to implement our savings plans, which amounted to approximately EUR 1.6 billion, and which led to a decrease in our underlying operating expenses of nearly 1%. Nevertheless, we continued to invest in digitizing our businesses so as to improve the customer experience and optimize our operating model.
The cost of risk remained very low at 25 basis points, at the lower end of the range announced to the market. This reflects the great discipline in origination and risk management that has been applied for several years now, resulting in a high-quality and diversified loan portfolio. The underlying net income Group share reached EUR 4.1 billion, and the underlying return on equity was 7.6%. Now, the performance of each of our businesses for 2019. First of all, Retail Banking in France through our three banners, Société Générale, Crédit du Nord, and Boursorama. This year saw the continuation of our conquest of all our target customer bases.
Our online bank, Boursorama, continued its strong growth with more than 500,000 new customers, enabling it to reach its target of 2 million customers one year ahead of schedule. Volumes also grew with outstanding loans to individuals and corporates up by 7%, and the medium-term loans to companies up by 6.8%. Lastly, we continue to transform our networks by streamlining our branch network in France and digitizing for a better customer experience and an optimized operating model. In terms of financial performance, we achieved the objectives we had set for ourselves. Revenues grew in 2019 by 0.3%, although the interest margin remained under pressure due to low interest rates. Operating expenses were kept under control and increased slightly to 1.3%. French retail banking's return on equity rose to 11.1% versus 10.9% in 2018. Now, international retail banking and financial services.
First of all, in international retail banking, the commercial momentum has remained very sturdy this year in all parts of the world where we operate. Western Europe, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, and Africa. Outstanding loans increased by between 6% and 9%, and outstanding deposits by between 2% and 13%. In financial services, insurance had an excellent year, with growth in life insurance outstandings of more than 8%, combined with an increase in the unit-linked rate by nearly three points. In our corporate financial services business was also very buoyant with a 2.5% increase in equipment financing outstandings and a 6% growth in the fleet of our vehicle leasing business, ALD. Against this backdrop, revenues from retail banking and international financial services grew by 4.6% at constant scope and exchange rates.
As in 2018, operating leverage is positive, with costs up by 4.3% after restatement of exceptional items, provisions for restructuring, and asset tax in Romania. The level of return on equity allocated to these businesses is high at 17.9%. Finally, let me come back to the performance of the Large Clients Investor Solutions Bank. In 2019, we launched and successfully carried out a major restructuring of our activities. In particular, we closed certain market activities such as the principal commodities business and proprietary trading activities that were housed in our subsidiary, Descartes Trading, and we reduced the capital allocated to the least profitable market activities. The other activities of the Corporate Investor Solutions division saw their revenues increase in 2019.
Net banking income from financing and advisory grew by 3%, and our asset management and private banking businesses saw their revenues grow by 1%, excluding the disposal of our private banking activities in Belgium. In all, net banking income were down slightly by 1.6% compared to 2018 and up 1% excluding discontinued and divested activities. Excluding restructuring costs, operating expenses were down 2.5% year-over-year, reflecting the effects of the additional EUR 500 million cost-cutting plan initiated and fully secured in 2019. Underlying profitability remained resilient at 7.4% versus 7.8% in 2018. Let me dwell for a moment on our extra-financial results. We have continued to strengthen in 2019 the Group's commitments, enabling us to be recognized as a leading bank in the field of responsible finance.
RobecoSAM in 2019 placed us as the best environmental bank in the world, and the MSCI rating agency also upgraded our rating to AA. Indeed, we are one of the first banks to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking, and we strengthened our commitment to benefit the energy transition. Let us now turn on the financial strength of our Group and the creation of shareholder value. As you can see, shareholders' equity group share continued to grow in 2019 by 4% and by more than 15% as compared to 2014, at EUR 63.5 billion at the end of 2019. Tangible net asset value per share were at EUR 55.6 at the end of 2019, are up by more than 12% compared to 2014.
As we indicated in the press release on the 31st of March last, we canceled the dividend that we wanted to propose to the vote at this general meeting. In accordance with the recommendations of the European Central Bank not to pay a dividend before October. Frédéric Oudéa will come back to this important decision. To conclude, I would like to come back to the results for the first quarter of 2020, which, as you know, were marked by the first effects of the unprecedented health crisis we are currently experiencing. On one hand, our retail banking, corporate finance, corporate financial services, insurance, and fleet management activities were resilient over the quarter after a good start in January and in February. On the other hand, our capital markets activities were fully impacted by extremely difficult conditions on the financial markets from the second half of March. Particularly in equity markets.
Revenues from our structured products business were down sharply, due in particular to market dislocation and the cancellation of dividends by many companies and financial institutions in Europe. As a result, the group's revenues were down by 16.5% in this first quarter. Underlying operating expenses continued to decline at -3.6% compared to the first quarter of 2019. We announced additional cost-saving measures for 2020 between EUR 600 million and EUR 700 million. The cost of risk increased to 65 basis points, reflecting the first effects of the crisis. In conclusion, the efforts made in 2019 will enable us to tackle this crisis with a strengthened financial strength of our group, with a solvency ratio of 12.6%, meaning nearly 350 basis points above regulatory requirements and a solid liquidity position. Thank you for your attention. I give the floor to Jean-Marc Mickeler, who will speak on behalf of the auditors.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, let me first of all summarize our audit report on the consolidated financial statements on pages 42 to 46 of your notice of meeting and the one on the annual financial statements from pages 47 to 50.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good afternoon. First of all, I hope that you are doing well and that yourself and your families have not been affected by COVID-19. I'm sure that we will remember this general assembly that we're holding today with no one in the room today. A meeting such as this one is an opportunity to look back on the year that has just gone by and vote on a number of resolutions. Today, we will also be talking about the crisis that we are going through and what will happen next. This crisis is the end of a 10-year growth cycle since the financial crisis. I'd like to go back quickly to the year 2019. You heard about Diony Lebot, who gave you the commercial and financial results of our different business lines, and I will not go over that again.
2019 was a year marked by progress, during which we showed our quick ability to adapt. I think that we've reached all the objectives that we set ourselves in the area of strategy, finance, and extra-finance objectives. We have also continued to refocus our business portfolio in our areas of expertise, where we have critical mass and synergies within the group. This refocusing, along with a great deal of discipline, has allowed us to increase significantly our equity level, which was our number one priority, as Diony mentioned earlier. Our results have also captured a disciplined management of costs and risks. Management of risks based on the quality of our portfolio, we've adapted our business lines when it was necessary, especially in market activities and in retail banking in France.
We've done also a lot of progress in the remediation programs, and we have met the very stringent deadlines that were set for us. We are going to continue with these programs that are staggered, for most of them, all the way until the end of 2021. Through all of these efforts, we will reinforce the group in the area of risk management by upholding the highest compliance standards. We've also delivered on our CSR objectives. For example, we are one year early on our objective of funding the energy transition to the tune of EUR 100 billion. On our positioning, on the structure of our balance sheet, we are entering into this new unknown period, this new unknown crisis.
This crisis has been around since early March, and it has had an impact on our bottom line, like for many other companies, and it has had consequences for you, shareholders, as was mentioned earlier. For example, the suspension of the dividend for 2019. I know that you are both disappointed and frustrated by this. In spite of the fact, of course, that the 2019 results were good enough to provision for EUR 2.20 per share. The ECB, in March, required banks to suspend the payments of dividends until we have more clarity on the crisis to protect capital ratios. In light of all this uncertainty, and to be as careful as possible, we have followed this recommendation, as has done the overwhelming majority of European banks. Our decision is therefore not unique.
We will see a few quarters down the line where we stand and if we can pay these dividends at the end of the year, which is, of course, what I hope to do. Second consequence is a significant drop of the share price of Société Générale. It's been the case for most European banks. We have a 50% drop, but it's more significant for us, especially since we posted our results for the first quarter. Our current valuation is way off our equity and the intrinsic value of our assets. Generally speaking, the share price of European banks have dropped because of the economic circumstances, but also because of the visibility and stability of the regulatory environment. For the forthcoming quarters, we're going to work hard so that the market can change its perspective on our financial trajectory.
Along with our peers, we need to convince our supervisors as to the necessity to clarify the regulatory framework to try and draw in more investors. Of course, I'm not happy about the current situation. Our priority is to take the necessary steps quarter after quarter to adapt to the new context brought about by the COVID-19 crisis. The current crisis is unprecedented in terms of scope. It is an economic and a health crisis. Whole segments of the economy are shut down because of the lockdown. There is a lot of uncertainty for future quarters with risks of a second wave of contamination, and there are different scenarios for economic activity that capture recession between 7% and 13% for the more developed economies. These estimations go way further than what we lived through in 2008 and 2009, and it will have consequences in the long run.
Diony Lebot talked about the results for the first quarter of 2020. I'd like to go back to that very quickly. They are somewhat disappointing. They do capture very different circumstances, depending on the métier that you look at. Whether it's market activities or investment solutions, we're going to take the necessary steps to improve these results. As Diony said earlier, our other business lines are delivering resilient performance in spite of the first impacts of the crisis. We are confident in their ability to weather the next few quarters. There will be an increase in the risk of cost that we will try and mitigate as much as possible, the effects of that on our net income. This does not challenge in any way the financial situation and the robustness of the Group.
Our balance sheet is very strong, and that is crucial for the future and for us to bounce back. Overall, I would like to say that we will be able to weather this crisis, and will rise from it, as we have been able to do over the last 150 years, and we need to get to work immediately on our trajectory for the next few years. At the beginning of the year, we coined our raison d'être, and we heard it earlier from the president, so that it would give meaning to our actions and guide our choices for the future, and set out what we have in mind when we come to the office every day. In other words, it's about building a better world with our clients for a better and more sustainable future by being both responsible and innovative.
Since the beginning of the crisis, banks have been on the front line, along with states and central banks, to act as shock absorbers for our clients. In these unprecedented circumstances, we fully embody our raison d'être. We demonstrate what responsible finance is all about. Three quick examples. First of all, we operate in a way to protect the health of our clients and our employees. This has always been, and will remain, our number one priority. I would also like to thank all of our teams across the world, because their dedication is outstanding. Thanks to the commitment of our employees and the quality of our technological platforms, we have smoothly transitioned to new ways of working, with tens of thousands of people working from home across the globe. The bank is operating very smoothly for all of its clients across the whole planet.
We have also maintained our branches. They remain open, and Philippe Heim will be talking about the French network in a minute. I would also like to pay tribute to our five colleagues who, unfortunately, have died of COVID-19. Of course, their families are in our thoughts, and we also have a thought for all of our colleagues who are still recovering from COVID-19. We are here to guide our clients with our own resources, but also by deploying the different government programs. Banks and the financial system were the starting point of the 2008 crisis, but today, we are an important link in the chain that can bring about solutions for the economy and help companies navigate these difficult times, and save as much production capacity and as much jobs as possible.
All over the world, we are taking the necessary steps to help our clients, and we are deploying with great commitment the government programs. Philippe Heim, in that regard, will be talking about the government-backed loans in France for the Société Générale. We received more than 70,000 requests for some EUR 17.4 billion worth of loans. During this crisis, we are standing by our clients, and we are reinforcing our relationship with them in spite of these difficult times. Today, more than ever before, we must act as a responsible economic agent. This is why we have a global solidarity program with a budget that could reach up to EUR 50 million. This budget will be used to pay into the different solidarity funds, but it will also help to support healthcare workers, researchers, and to pay for emergency help in certain countries.
My colleagues and myself have decided to pay into this plan, and we've told the board of directors that we will give up half of our variable share that will be given to us in 2020. Like all larger French banks, we have decided not to opt for partial unemployment so as not to be too much of a burden on the state's budget, and to allow the state to help sectors that are more harshly affected. In that way, I believe that we've played a responsible role as a bank, and we will continue to do so by following our ambitious CSR roadmap.
For the longer run, we are already starting to work on our 2021, 2025 strategic plan in an environment that will be very different to that that we were used to. All over the world, we are going to be operating in fragile economic situations with more instability from a social and political point of view. What will this world look like? I think that we need to be humble. The crisis is not over, so we mustn't be too hasty. I do nonetheless believe that there will be some clear evolutions. First of all, we will need to protect our clients and to advise them even more when it comes to their savings. Secondly, we will have to continue to guide companies, first of all, so that it can beef up their financial structure, but also optimize their need for funding and financing.
We will have learned also new ways of consuming, especially for banking services, and new ways of working with digital tools. I'm sure that some obstacles have been lifted in some economic areas, and millions of our citizens and friends and colleagues have discovered home working. In these unique circumstances, I believe that we will also see public opinion requesting more from companies from a CSR point of view. We're going to adapt and adjust our company to this new post-crisis world. There will be more risk out there, also more opportunities. We have many assets that we can rely on. First of all, we have a business model that is well-balanced with retail banking and global banking branches that are working very well.
We also have very innovative models such as Boursorama, for example, or our automobile fleet management business line that is very relevant in current times. Secondly, when it comes to loyalty and trust, this is very important in the long run when it comes to our relationship with our clients. This is why we stand out, because our clients trust us. Secondly, we also stand out because of our presence in some areas that are a great promise for the future and for our future development, such, for example, as our presence in Africa. We also have a strong culture of responsibility, of innovation, and expertise. We also rely on high-end technology equipment that came in very handy during this crisis, and we also have a strong financial structure.
We need, of course, to draw all the necessary lessons from that crisis, look at how client behaviors are going to change in the future. We need to seize this opportunity to change our ways of working inside Société Générale by being disruptive and innovative to get that competitive edge and build our business. Like for previous years, we will have to be very careful when it comes to both cost risks and also financial resources in an environment where there will be more constraints than ever before. We have therefore decided to focus on the post-crisis period. We're going to be champions in the area of customer satisfaction.
We must capitalize on investment when it comes to digital transformation. Secondly, we must clarify our actions in responsible banking to contribute towards an efficient and fair role in investment banking and be a responsible employer. Let me remind you that we took very clear commitments when it comes to exiting coal, and we will define pathways in all of our loan portfolios in line with the Paris Agreement. That will mean a gradual reduction in absolute value of our commitments in oil and gas as of 2021. Lastly, the third area, to improve operational efficiency, to reduce costs, as well as to have a more efficient and simpler organization and processes. We will share this new plan with you in 2021, giving us time to fully integrate the impacts of this exceptional crisis in our strategic and financial roadmap.
To conclude, the European banking sector is, of course, deeply impacted by the outlook of a considerable slowdown in the economic activity. That affects the general activities. Your company, in which you're a strong shareholder, has resources and ability to overcome crises, to react, moving forward, to build the future. Rest reassured that all our teams and your general management team are deploying an unlimited energy to serve our clients and to deserve the trust that you have placed in us, you, our shareholders, over the long term. [Foreign language]
Frédéric. Thank you, Frédéric. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, we'll now move on to the part of our general meeting devoted to corporate governance. In the universal registration document, as of pages 20 et al, you saw the report on corporate governance.
There you can read in detail the board's management report, the reports of each committee, as well as the report related to the chairman's activities. The board has spent a lot of time in 2019 to follow up on the implementation of the strategic plan in a context that was less favorable than expected. It redefined financial targets. It approved risk appetite and the roadmap for capital. The board also followed as best it could all risks of all sorts, including social and environmental risks. It approved the declaration of extra-financial performance. In accordance with the PACTE Law in France, the board approved the reason for being, raison d'être, of our bank, and Frédéric Oudéa just pointed out the terms thereof in his strategic presentation. In 2019, as each year, the board has received the representatives of the European Central Bank acting as bank supervisors.
The board also appointed, once again, these company directors, carried out their assessment, and set their compensation. The board also worked with the nominations and corporate governance committee on succession plans. You will find in the universal registration document on page 91, in particular, the summary of the assessment of the work carried out by the board of directors. This assessment was carried out by an independent consultant. It is positive, both in terms of its composition and the quality of our work. The work conducted by the board of directors was largely fueled by the work done by the committees. I'd like to stress, in particular, the quality and the density of work carried out by the risk committee and the audit committee, and the audit and internal control committee.
Let me remind you that the Risk Committee is specifically responsible for supervising risk linked to activities in the U.S. We also improved training given to the members of the board in certain complex matters, such as accounting rules, as well as on technological issues such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence in particular. With respect to my personal role, I actively took part in contacts with regulators and met shareholders and international investors, more particularly within the framework of the preparatory work for this general meeting. This year, two terms of office will expire. On the proposal of the Compensation Committee and the Nominations Committee, the board proposes the following. First of all, the renewal of Juan Maria Nin Génova for a second term of office. Juan Maria Nin Génova is a member of the Risk Committee and the Compensation Committee. He has great experience in banking.
More particularly, he is the head of one of the largest retail banks in Spain. Secondly, the appointment of Madame Annette Messemer. She will be replacing Madame Nathalie Rachou, who has come to the end of her third term, and she chaired with efficiency and competence the risk committee since 2015. She is also a member of the nominations committee. We must thank her for her commitment, her knowledge of the bank, her experience of financial markets. She played a key role over the past years, chairing the U.S. Risk Committee as well. Thank you, Nathalie. Annette Messemer also has great experience in banking and financial markets at Commerzbank in particular. She will bring an incomparable knowledge of the German bank, where the bank operates significantly, especially in financial services. I propose we should now listen to her presentation. Ladies and gentlemen and shareholders.
[Foreign language]est aussi une connaissance intime du secteur bancaire et de l'industrie en Allemagne. Je crois très fortement dans la nécessité de mettre les clients au centre de l'entreprise. J'ai gagné mes expériences non seulement dans le management, mais aussi depuis plus de 10 ans en participant à des conseils de surveillance et d'administration en Europe. Administratrice de société à plein temps, je veux vous assurer de mon total engagement comme administratrice et vous remercie à l'avance de la confiance que vous voudrez bien m'accorder. Merci.[/Foreign language]
Merci Annette. Thank you Annette. Let me point out that she's a lot of experience as well in France, where she did her studies and she's now an independent director at Essilor. If you look at her profile on Google, she'll be joining the Risk Committee. If you appoint her, she'll be called upon to enter the Risk Committee and the Audit and Internal Control Committee. If you accept this proposal, the Board will remain perfectly balanced when it comes to gender equality. These two propositions fully are in line with the guidelines set by the Board when it comes to its composition. These two propositions confirm the Board's collective competence in all areas. In terms of its needs for diversity, you have a map of skills that you may consult later on.
If you adopt the resolution proposed, the Board will therefore have 14 members with two employee representatives and 11 independent directors. Let me point out that in 2021, pursuant to the PACTE Law, the Board of Directors will have one additional board member representing shareholding employees. This is one of the amendments to the articles that will be proposed to you for you to vote upon. Thank you for your attention. Let me give the floor now to Jean-Bernard Lévy, who is the Chairman of the Compensation Committee. Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
À neuf reprises. Il prépare l'évaluation des mandataires sociaux et propose leur rémunération au Conseil d'administration. Il prépare les décisions qui concernent la population régulée. Il valide l'attribution des actions de performance à certains collaborateurs et la mise en œuvre de la politique d'épargne salariale et d'actionnariat salarié. Il examine et donne un avis au Conseil sur les propositions de la Direction générale relatives à la politique de rémunération du groupe. Le comité a notamment veillé à ce que la politique et les principes de rémunération soient conformes à la réglementation et aux objectifs du groupe en matière de gestion des fonds propres et de maîtrise des risques. Conformément aux dispositions législatives, l'Assemblée générale doit approuver la politique de rémunération des mandataires sociaux pour 2020 et doit voter de manière contraignante sur la composante variable de la rémunération des dirigeants mandataires sociaux au titre de 2019.
Passons à la politique de rémunération du groupe. Sur les rémunérations fixes et variables, les pratiques de Société Générale sont en ligne avec nos marchés de référence. Plusieurs mécanismes spécifiques de fidélisation des collaborateurs sont mis en œuvre. Les attributions d'actions de performance. À ce titre, l'enveloppe prévue pour le plan d'action de performance des collaborateurs qui ne sont pas soumis aux variables différées s'élève à EUR 32 million. Comme l'année dernière, une partie du variable différé est attribuée sous forme d'actions de performance. Ces attributions entrent dans le cadre de l'autorisation votée par l'Assemblée générale le 23 mai 2018. Deuxièmement, la participation et l'intéressement pour la société Société Générale S.A. Le montant global au titre de 2019 s'est élevé à EUR 75.4 million.
[Foreign language]L'absence de paiement du dividende a eu un impact négatif sur l'enveloppe participation et intéressement, la partie de l'enveloppe attribution du dividende étant de ce fait ramenée à 0. Je vous rappelle que l'actionnariat salarié représente au 31 décembre 2019 6.52% du capital et 10.82% des droits de vote. Comme chaque année, la politique de rémunération de la population régulée a fait l'objet d'une revue de nos superviseurs, la BCE et l'ACPR, et de nos équipes internes de contrôle qui ont conclu que le risque de non-conformité est correctement couvert. Passons à la rémunération ex ante des mandataires sociaux. Ses principales caractéristiques sont inchangées par rapport à 2019. Afin de tenir compte de l'évolution des pratiques de marché ainsi que des votes exprimés lors de l'assemblée générale du 21 mai 2019, voici les principales modifications qui ont été apportées.[/Foreign language]
Premièrement, une restriction du champ d'application de l'indemnité de départ des mandataires sociaux exécutifs qui ne serait plus due en cas de démission ou de non-renouvellement du mandat, quelle qu'en soit la motivation. Cette disposition s'applique au mandat en cours à compter de la présente assemblée générale. Deuxièmement, l'introduction du principe de pro rata temporis pour certains cas de maintien de l'intéressement à long terme des mandataires sociaux exécutifs en cas de départ de l'entreprise. Les versements seraient ainsi effectués au pro rata de la durée de mandat par rapport à la durée d'acquisition et après prise en compte de la performance observée et appréciée par le conseil. Cet ajustement s'applique à compter des plans attribués en 2020 au titre de l'exercice 2019. En outre, les régimes de retraite collective de Société Générale ont évolué suite à des évolutions législatives. Ces régimes sont applicables aux directeurs généraux délégués.
En contribution au programme de solidarité mis en place par le groupe, les dirigeants mandataires sociaux exécutifs ont annoncé le jeudi 30 avril dernier qu'ils en ont informé le conseil d'administration, qu'ils renonceront à la moitié de la part variable annuelle qui leur sera éventuellement attribuée par le conseil d'administration le moment venu au regard de l'exercice 2020. S'agissant des administrateurs de la Société Générale, le régime de leur rémunération est décrit en détail dans le rapport gouvernement d'entreprise ainsi qu'à l'article 15 du règlement du conseil. Le montant global de cette rémunération s'élève à EUR 1.7 million tel qu'il a été adopté par votre assemblée le 23 mai 2018, il est proposé de le laisser inchangé. S'agissant de la répartition, elle tient compte des responsabilités de chaque administrateur, notamment lorsqu'il participe à des comités.
On distingue une part fixe qui est conditionnée à l'assiduité et une part variable liée à la présence aux réunions du conseil et des comités. Le président ainsi que le directeur général ne reçoivent pas de rémunération au titre de leur mandat d'administrateur. S'agissant du président du conseil d'administration, il perçoit une rémunération fixe d'un montant inchangé depuis 2018 et s'y ajoute la prise en charge de son logement de fonction à Paris. Afin de garantir une totale indépendance dans l'exécution de son mandat, le président ne perçoit ni rémunération variable, ni titre, ni action liée à la performance de Société Générale ou du groupe. La rémunération du directeur général et des directeurs généraux délégués est composée de rémunération fixe et variable et d'un intéressement à long terme. Cette politique de rémunération combine ainsi des horizons de court et de long terme. Elle est alignée avec les intérêts des actionnaires.
La rémunération fixe des dirigeants exécutifs est maintenue pour 2020 à EUR 1,300,000 pour le directeur général et à EUR 800,000 pour les directeurs généraux délégués. La rémunération variable annuelle, fonction de la performance de l'année et de la contribution des mandataires sociaux à la réussite de Société Générale, elle est évaluée sur la base d'objectifs financiers et d'objectifs qualitatifs qui sont fixés par le conseil d'administration, en cohérence avec le modèle de leadership du groupe. Concernant les objectifs financiers tels que le ROTE, le ratio Core Tier 1 et le coefficient d'exploitation, nous tenons compte des conséquences liées à la crise actuelle du coronavirus qui pourrait conduire, au moment de l'évaluation, à retraiter les cibles budgétaires arrêtées avant que cette crise sanitaire n'éclate.
Les objectifs qualitatifs communs à l'ensemble des dirigeants portent notamment sur la mise en œuvre de la stratégie du groupe, sur la poursuite des progrès dans la satisfaction des clients, le Net Promoter Score et l'expérience client. Sur la réalisation des objectifs du groupe en matière de responsabilité sociale et environnementale, ce qu'on appelle la RSE, avec respect de la trajectoire qui a été définie dans le plan d'entreprise et le positionnement dans les index extra-financiers. Sur le respect des obligations réglementaires et sur la bonne gestion opérationnelle de la crise du coronavirus. Le montant global qui en résulte est plafonné à 135% de la rémunération fixe annuelle pour ce qui concerne le Directeur Général et à 115% pour ce qui concerne les Directeurs Généraux Délégués.
Ce montant est soumis aux mêmes contraintes que celles de la population régulée, c'est-à-dire étalé sur trois ans et payé aux deux tiers en actions. Enfin, le paiement ou l'acquisition définitive sont soumis à l'atteinte de deux conditions de performance, une condition en ce qui concerne le niveau des fonds propres et une condition de profitabilité. L'intéressement à long terme a pour objet d'associer les dirigeants exécutifs à la performance à long terme du groupe et d'aligner leurs intérêts avec ceux des actionnaires. Un plafond identique à celui du variable annuel s'applique au montant d'intéressement et calculé en juste valeur. Son acquisition est soumise à une condition de performance boursière du groupe par rapport à un panel de banques européennes comparables, ainsi qu'à une condition fondée sur la performance RSE du groupe. Les montants sont différés jusqu'à sept ans. Par ailleurs, la valeur finale de paiement est également plafonnée.
Le total de la rémunération variable annuelle et de l'intéressement à long terme est donc plafonné à deux fois la rémunération fixe. Pour rappel, en ce qui concerne le Say on Pay ex ante, la politique de rémunération 2020 des dirigeants. Pour rappel, les directeurs généraux bénéficient d'une indemnité pour compenser une clause de non-concurrence de 6 mois telle qu'elle est rémunérée à hauteur de leur rémunération fixe et d'une indemnité de départ qui est versée uniquement en cas de départ contraint du groupe. Les conditions du paiement de cette indemnité vont être modifiées afin de supprimer la possibilité du paiement en cas de démission contrainte. Aucune indemnité ne serait due en cas de démission ou de non-renouvellement du mandat, quelle qu'en soit la motivation.
Le principe de non-paiement s'applique également en cas de départ dans les 6 mois précédant la liquidation de la retraite ou tenant compte de la possibilité, au moment du départ, de bénéficier d'une retraite au taux plein au sens de la Sécurité sociale. Dans l'hypothèse où l'entreprise ou le dirigeant se trouve dans la situation d'échec au moment du départ. Le montant de l'indemnité s'élève à 2 ans de rémunération fixe. Le montant cumulé respecte le plafond recommandé par le Code AFEP-MEDEF de 2 ans de rémunération fixe et variable annuelle. Enfin, suite aux évolutions législatives récentes en France, le régime à prestation définie applicable aux cadres hors classification dont bénéficient les 4 directeurs généraux délégués a été fermé à l'acquisition de nouveaux droits en date du 31 décembre 2019.
Quant à Frédéric Oudéa, votre directeur général, il ne bénéficie d'aucune retraite complémentaire au titre de Société Générale. Les éléments de rémunération attribués au titre de l'exercice 2019 au directeur général, dont les versements sont conditionnés à l'approbation de l'Assemblée générale, sont les suivants, une rémunération fixe d'EUR 1,300,000, qui est inchangée depuis le July 31, 2014, une rémunération variable annuelle qui correspond à un taux d'atteinte global des objectifs de 79%, ce qui conduit à un montant d'EUR 1,387,152, et un montant d'intéressement à long terme attribué en February 2020 au titre de 2019, EUR 850,000. Le directeur général ne perçoit aucun jeton de présence, aucune stock option et ne bénéficie d'aucune retraite supplémentaire.
À titre de comparaison, comme vous le voyez sur le tableau, la rémunération totale de Frédéric Oudéa est inférieure à la moyenne et à la médiane des rémunérations attribuées aux dirigeants du CAC 40 et du panel de référence constitué de 11 banques européennes pour la détermination de l'intéressement à long terme. Il est à noter que le positionnement au sein du panel des banques européennes n'est pas modifié en prenant en compte les mesures affectant la rémunération dirigeants dans le cadre de la crise pandémique que nous vivons actuellement. Ce positionnement est globalement en ligne avec la performance de Société Générale par rapport à celui de ses pairs, ce qui nous amène à dire que nous respectons ainsi le principe pay for performance. Concernant les directeurs généraux délégués, la composante variable a la même structure que celle du directeur général avec une rémunération variable annuelle.
Je vous signale qu'elle s'élève à EUR 755,136 pour Philippe Heim, à EUR 580,520 pour Séverin Cabannes, à EUR 762,680 pour Philippe Heim et à EUR 727,904 pour Diony Lebot. Chaque directeur général délégué bénéficie aussi d'un intéressement à long terme dont le montant est de EUR 570,000. Conformément aux dispositions de la Loi PACTE, le rapport sur la rémunération des dirigeants au titre de l'année écoulée présente depuis cette année des informations complémentaires. Il s'agit notamment de l'évolution de la rémunération de chacun des dirigeants mandataires sociaux, comparée à la rémunération moyenne et médiane des salariés de la société et aux performances du groupe sur les five exercices les plus récents. Le graphique présente l'évolution de rémunération moyenne et médiane des salariés et les ratios entre la rémunération du directeur général et la rémunération moyenne et médiane des salariés sur five exercices.
Le périmètre pris en compte pour le calcul de la rémunération moyenne et médiane inclut les salariés de Société Générale SA, y compris les succursales étrangères. Les modalités de ce calcul ont été définies en conformité avec les lignes directrices sur les multiples de rémunération de l'AFEP-MEDEF. Il est également rappelé que la Société Générale publie déjà depuis plusieurs années sur une base volontaire le ratio entre la rémunération du directeur général et la rémunération moyenne des collaborateurs français de Société Générale SA. Respect de la réglementation sur les rémunérations. Je voudrais aussi signaler que le comité des rémunérations s'est assuré de la revue des modalités de la rémunération des populations dites régulées ou preneurs de risques dans le cadre de la directive européenne CRD IV.
Ces personnes sont identifiées soit par des critères qualitatifs liés à leurs fonctions et à leur niveau de responsabilité, ainsi que leur capacité à engager significativement la banque en termes d'exposition au risque, soit par des critères quantitatifs liés à leur niveau de rémunération total sur l'exercice précédent. [Foreign language] Au titre de 2019, ce sont 795 preneurs de risques qui ont été identifiés, dont 440, un peu plus de la moitié, résident hors de France. [Foreign language] Le montant global de rémunération variable de la population régulée, hors les mandataires sociaux, est de EUR 192 million. [Foreign language] C'est un montant similaire à celui de 2018. [Foreign language] Le montant moyen, qui ressort à EUR 248,000, est en légère augmentation 1% par rapport à 2018, compte tenu de la baisse du nombre de membres de cette population régulée. [Foreign language] Il y avait 827 régulés en 2018.
Le montant global de la rémunération totale 2019, hors mandataires sociaux, passe ainsi à EUR 428 million. Le montant moyen, qui s'élève à EUR 551,000, est en légère augmentation, là aussi, de 1%. J'attire votre attention sur le fait que ces montants sont différents de ceux qui vous sont soumis pour un vote consultatif dans la résolution numéro 24, qui porte sur les montants versés en 2019, car ceux-ci ne reflètent pas la performance de l'année, compte tenu de la part importante des rémunérations variables différées. Ceux-ci se sont élevés à EUR 417.5 million. Je vous remercie de votre attention. [/Foreign language]
Mesdames, Messieurs.
Ladies and gentlemen, as pointed out by Frédéric Oudéa, the COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on retail banking in France. From the start of the crisis, we set two objectives: to protect our clients and employees and to ensure business continuity and to be present with our clients. The first step consisted in activating our crisis management units in our banks, Société Générale, Crédit du Nord, and Boursorama, and at Sogecap, our insurance company. They had exchanges every day to coordinate their initiatives and to share best practices. At the start of March, actions were on setting up improved hygiene measures. In addition to setting up social distancing measures, we were racing against the clock to equip our teams with hand sanitizers, plexiglass, and masks. Bear in mind that at the start of the crisis, we decided to give our stock of FFP and surgical masks to healthcare workers.
This act of civism and solidarity was evident for us. We adapted the mechanism to operate with smaller teams because we were impacted by the pandemic directly. Up to 800 cases were sustained or suspected, or indirectly through child custody, and the principle of precaution to be applied to persons at risk. 90% of branches at Société Générale and Crédit du Nord were open to the public on appointment. There were disparities between regions. The large east sectors and Île-de-France were more impacted than others. Back offices carried out their vital and critical activities, especially with respect to payments, thanks to the activation of all levers, working in shifts or extended working hours, remote working. The same applies to our telephone platforms, enabling us to keep close contact with our customers. Lastly, our applications and internet websites played their role.
We therefore noted an increase in the number of users, showing that this crisis was an accelerator in enabling our customers to take ownership of these digital channels. Against this backdrop, we should mention the sharp rise in our ability to work remotely by deploying over 3,000 laptops and multiplying by five remote connection capabilities under good conditions with respect to keeping operational risks under control. Thanks to this adjusted mechanism, we were able to take actions by our customers' sides. That was indispensable because the lockdown had a brutal impact on their activities. Private individuals reduced their operations and transactions. After a peak on the 17th of March, they came less to branches, and exchanges with customers were mainly over the phone or via email.
Yet we sought to communicate actively, including via social media, to provide support to our customers and to provide them on specific matters, such as cybercrime risks. Within this context of lockdown, we noted a decline in loan applications and the volume of payments and monetics, up to -60% for payment by cards and -70% for cash payments at the height of the crisis. There are two significant exceptions to be stressed, nevertheless. On the one hand, virtual customers remained active and called upon our bankers to a large extent. Our stock market transactions remained strong. In March and April, we saw record years for Boursorama in terms of the number of accounts opened, multiplied by five as compared to 2019, and the number of orders passed, multiplied by four.
Boursorama in April was the third-ranking website in France in terms of number of persons on the website. At the same time, business grew with our customers, corporate, and companies. As of March, Société Générale and Crédit du Nord paid great attention to the situation of their body corporates, especially in sectors that are the most impacted, catering, the hostel business, transportation, or events organization. Contacts between these customers and their branch managers were numerous and intense. Great attention was paid to cash management so as to ensure the payment of salaries and suppliers. Société Générale and Crédit du Nord were therefore very much at the initiative in terms of actions taken for these categories. We delayed by six months the payment deadlines for a total of EUR 1.8 billion to lower the initial shock of the drop in revenue.
As of the 25th of March, our teams proposed to our customers the state-backed loans. We received on the 18th of May, 17,000 applications for EUR 17.4 billion. That's considerable. Over EUR 17 billion in six weeks, of which more than EUR 10 billion loans pre-granted to be compared to EUR 12 billion for the production of medium- and long-term loans for all of 2019, showing our resolve to support our customers. I must also share with you a message from a customer, which summarizes well what we have heard from many. I quote, "The state-backed loan funds are on our account. Good news that we need to manage the stress caused by this virus.
We're feeling better, thanks to you, and we thank you for this. We continue to work with the public authorities and our counterparts on the situation of sectors that were largely impacted and on solving the tough situations facing companies. On top of these initiatives, we're looking towards the end of the crisis already. For the end of the lockdown, we are continuing to associate caution and pragmatism, opening up our branches with a regular gradually, depending on the local situations. We must also bring about a commercial recovery, especially as recently we have seen positive signs with more requests being made for appointments at Société Générale in Côte d'Azur. 40,000 new customers at Boursorama, and a sharp increase in the use of payment means, as was facilitated by the increase from EUR 30 to EUR 50 for contactless payments. Initiatives that were important at this turning point.
We are relying on our investments in recent years, digital tools, expertise by our customer advisors, modular mechanisms, and also the first learnings from this crisis, especially when it comes to remote sales and new offerings. Rest reassured, dear shareholders, that we will continue to support our customers as best we can, and to play our role with energy and pride with respect to the economy for our country. It is our responsibility and our raison d'être, our reason for being. Thank you for your attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going to move on to the written questions. As it was mentioned earlier, all the questions and answers are already available on the Société Générale website. We have received questions from 13 shareholders, and five of them will be answered in this general assembly. The first one is a question from the Forum for Responsible Investment. You can have the whole question or rather the whole answer on the website. Frédéric Oudéa is going to sum up the answer on the bulk of the question. It's a two-part question. First of all, you're asking for the list of our activities that are not compliant with the Paris Agreement, and what steps are going to be undertaken to withdraw from them in 2021. Well, in 2019, we published our first TCFD task force on climate-related financial disclosures.
In this report, we identified the sectors that are the most exposed to transition risks that make up 23% of our corporate loan portfolio. For most of these sectors, climate-related issues are both a risk and an opportunity. The group built in 2019 a vulnerability indicator so as to carry out a more robust credit analysis. We've also reviewed coal investment, maritime transport, and we've got an exclusion policy for fossil fuels. These steps will be carried over in 2020. In 2019, Société Générale selected the sustainable development scenario from the International Energy Agency. Second part of the question, how is your CapEx aligned with a scenario as per the Paris Agreement? As soon as 2015, Société Générale decided to build a methodology so as to align our business with the Paris Agreement. In 2016, we developed a first methodology, and then we set ourselves objective for the coal sector.
Then in 2018, we signed the Katowice Commitment jointly with four other international banks. This agreement is about having a shared methodology and open-source tools to measure our progress towards the objectives enshrined in that agreement. We also have some practical steps with a timeline so that we can align all of our business with the Paris Agreement. For example, aligning sectorial portfolios in the next three years, helping our clients navigate the energy transition. The working group that has been set up is working relentlessly on all of these issues. Thank you. The floor is now to Diony Lebot to answer two questions from the charity, Les Amis de la Terre, on gas and coal. Okay. The first question is about our exposure, our financing of shale gas and oil.
The question is, are you going to take into account the risks that such investments represent, and are you going to divest from these sectors and the whole value chain? As Frédéric Oudéa has just said, Société Générale is one of the banks that has been committed for a long time now to align their portfolio with the energy transition and with the Paris Agreement. More specifically, we are one of the very first banks to have signed the Net-Zero Banking Alliance Agreement in 2018, and also the Principles for Responsible Banking in 2019. In 2020, we will be talking more about the impact that it will have for the long-term trajectory of credit portfolio and investment portfolio for all under shale gas. For the moment, we are relying on the sustainable development scenario by the International Energy Agency.
In that regard, North American shale gas is, in our eyes, a transition energy. Gas is more efficient than coal when it comes to producing electricity, and therefore, in some countries, it is a transition towards a low carbon economy. Société Générale, of course, gears all of these investments to CSR commitments and is constantly bolstering up its standards and pushing standards. Second question from Les Amis de la Terre on our investments in coal and our commitment to align ourselves with best practices when it comes to financing coal-related activities. There again, Frédéric Oudéa mentioned earlier that Société Générale, for quite a few years now, has been setting itself objectives to reduce the share of coal and thermal coal in our portfolio. We set an objective in 2015 that we have overshot by quite some distance.
The objective was to limit 19% of coal in the energy mix that we finance, and right now, we are at 11.5%, so we are way ahead of our target. At the same date, our energy mix for financing electricity is made up of 51% of renewable energies. We have committed to exiting totally coal by 2030 for Europe and OECD countries, and 2040 for the rest of the world. Our strategy for coal and oil is regularly updated. I'm now going to hand over the floor to Séverin Cabannes, who is going to answer the third question from Les Amis de la Terre. It's a question about Mozambique.
Well, thank you very much, Diony. Dear shareholders, Société Générale has been asked to work on the Mozambique natural liquid gas for quite some time now. The operator, now Total since September, but previously another corporation.
We make sure that Total is now fully aware of the importance of environmental and social-related issues. We push them to follow the more stringent standards, including the Equator Principles, the standards of performance of the World Bank, and the shared approaches of the OECD in terms of social and environmental diligence. After a number of attacks carried out by the insurgents in the region of Cabo Delgado, an MOU was signed in 2019. In this agreement, is enshrined the deployment of militaries to reinforce the security of that region, especially that of gas projects. Therefore, there will be logistical support for transport, housing, and feeding of these military forces. Total and the LNG project fully subscribe to the principles of security and human rights.
Like any gas-related project, we will be respecting our commitments in terms of environment and human rights and our fight against corruption. I would now like to answer another written question asked by Mr. Lalaina Rakotomalala about. Our activities. For our market activities, what is the future for credit activities that have a subpar profitability rate for 2020? Well, it's true that for these market activities, for credit and loans, it has been quite tough so far in 2020, but it's not over. I'd just like to talk quickly about what these loan market activities are. First of all, there is the distribution of primary emissions, so our clients who finance themselves, so debt capital market, in short. Second kind of activity, markets animation on debt instruments and loan instruments and some derivative flows.
This business of market animation is crucial so that we can maintain our relationship with investors, and that we can continue to issue primary emissions when they are needed. Now, for the rest, we are fully aligned with the primary business that I mentioned earlier. Now for credit activity, the credit ETF, these trackers, these instruments are developing very quickly. Investors have got a lot of appetite for that kind of product. In this area, we've got a solid positioning that was reinforced recently when we reinforced our banking activities. Fourthly, I'd like to talk about the structured credit products, so investment products that we sell to our investors. Our investor clients are interested in these products because they allow them to diversify their investments. In short, they are products that are bought by our clients. It's a security, and it pays according to its exposure to risk.
It's precisely on that kind of activity that the first quarter of 2020 was quite tough. These market activities as regards loans are very important when it comes to financing the economy. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we have helped companies so that they could refinance themselves on the debt markets. We have helped some 75 clients who needed to refinance themselves on the debt market. Unédic was one of the largest players who issued EUR 4 billion with a maturity running until 2026. As you can see, these businesses, this kind of activity is very important. We're going to continue. It's true that we've suffered a lot in the first quarter, but we're going to keep a close eye on the results and on the areas where we can improve. Now, I'm going to hand over the floor to Philippe Heim.
Thank you very much, Séverin. We have a question here from the advisory shareholder committee, the question is, what is your development strategy for Africa? Quickly, I'd like to remind you what is important for us at Société Générale in Africa. We've got 17 retail banks in Africa. We've got a bureau of representation in South Africa and in Kenya. We've got 12,000 people working in Africa, 3 million clients for retail banking. Beyond this overview for Africa, I'd just like to say that Africa, for Société Générale, is a longstanding relationship with our first penetration in the continent through Morocco. With a lot of growth driven by the demographic dividend, the increase of credit, et cetera. The crisis has shown how resilient our setup in Africa is. We have been able to maintain all of our branches open for our clients.
We've also been able to continue advising companies in Africa. We've got regional directorates who help us oversee the network from West Africa, Morocco, Central Africa, et cetera. We also, during the crisis, were able to assess the quality of Société Générale. We had an influx of deposits. We are considered as being a safe haven. What is our strategy for development in Africa? Well, we're going to continue to be more attractive for companies in Africa. We're going to continue to tap the potential of retail banking in Africa. We serve, for example, a lot of people in the civil service in Africa and also wealthy individuals. We're going to work on attracting a new client base, so that we are in a good position for the future.
To conclude, I'd just like to say that over and beyond our strategic objective to deliver for Africa, I'd like to say that given the fact that banking is so important in the area of development, we are going to be focusing specifically on everything that is sustainable. In fact, we've built a plan that fosters the positive and sustainable development of Africa, so support for infrastructure, energy, and agriculture. For example, the dam of Nachtigal in Cameroon. We also want to boost financial inclusion with mobile banking, for example, but also supporting SMEs with the different bureaus that we've opened up in Africa. Africa is really crucial in the strategy of Société Générale. Frédéric Oudéa, now for the fifth question for Mr. Grimaud, a question about the profitability of the bank in the future. Well, thank you very much.
For quite a few years now, we've been working on improving the allocation of capital by investing in more profitable projects and building synergies within the group. Against this backdrop, we have divested or interrupted the financing of some activities and investing in more profitable businesses. We are going to continue with this agile methodology. The Group Société Générale is very disciplined when it comes to cost management. In fact, the overheads have dropped by 1% for 2019. In 2020, we want to continue on that same line with the saving plan that is still underway. Add to this, the additional saving plans of EUR 600 million-EUR 700 million. Well, thank you very much for all of these answers. Thank you, Frédéric, Diony, Séverin, Philippe. Thank you so very much.
I'd just like to remind you that all of these answers are available on the website of Société Générale. I hope that the questions that we picked have answered your concerns. I'd now like to move on to the votes on the different resolutions. To that end, I'm going to hand over the floor to Patrick Suet. Well, for each resolution, I will be reading out the whole resolution. You can find it in your notice. You can vote online, by post. The deadline was 18th of May, 3:00 P.M. The results will be up on the screen for each resolution. The quorum was reached and mentioned earlier, so I'm not going to go back to this. We have 567,385,068 voting rights represented. We're now going to move on to the first resolution, the approval of consolidated accounts for financial year 2019.
The resolution is adopted at 99.79%. Second resolution, approval of annual accounts for financial year 2019. The result is adopted at 99.77%. Third resolution, allocation of 2019 income, no dividend as per the ECB's recommendation. That was explained in detail by Frédéric Oudéa earlier. The result is 99.61%. Fourth resolution, approval of the statutory auditor's report on regulated agreements. There were no new agreements, the result is thus approved at 99.57%. Fifth resolution, compensation policy for the Chairman of the Board of Directors that remains unchanged. The result is adopted 96.46%. Sixth resolution, compensation policy for the Deputy Chief Executive Officers, it remains unchanged and was outlined by Jean-Bernard Lévy earlier. The result is approved 97.3%. Seventh resolution, compensation policy for the directors. The global amount remain the same and the allocation key as well. The result is approved at 98.88%.
Eighth resolution, approval of the report on compensation for corporate officers. There again, it's a new resolution. Jean-Bernard Lévy presented the report earlier. The result is approved at 96.6%. Ninth resolution, approval of the compensation paid in 2019 or awarded for financial year 2019 to Mr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. That resolution has been approved 96.31%. Tenth resolution, approval of the compensation paid in 2019 or awarded for financial year 2019 to Mr. Frédéric Oudéa. That was outlined by Jean-Bernard Lévy earlier. The result is adopted at 96.71%. Eleventh resolution, approval of the compensation paid in 2019 or awarded for financial year 2019 to Mr. Philippe Heim. That resolution is approved 96.81%. Twelfth resolution, approval of the compensation paid in 2019 or awarded for financial year 2019 to Mr. Séverin Cabannes. Approved 96.7%.
Thirteenth resolution, approval of the compensation paid in 2019 or awarded for financial year 2019 to Mr. Philippe Heim. Approved 96.78%. Fourteenth resolution, approval of the compensation paid in 2019 or awarded for financial year 2019 to Ms. Diony Lebot. Result approved 96.74%. Fifteenth resolution, advisory opinion on compensation paid in 2019 to regulated persons. The budget is EUR 417.5 million, and the result is approved 99.33%. Sixteenth resolution, renewal of Mr. Juan Maria Nin Genova as director for a four-year term of office. Result is approved 99.32%. Seventeenth resolution, appointment of Ms. Annette Messemer as director for a four-year term of office. Approved 99.19%. Eighteenth resolution, authorization to buy back shares for 18 months within a limit of 5% of capital. Result approved 99.28%. Now we're moving on to the extraordinary parts of the general assembly.
Nineteenth resolution, delegation of authority for capital increase with pre-emptive subscription rights maintained with a maximum of 33% of the capital for a period of 26 months. Result is approved at 98.47%. Twentieth resolution, delegation of authority for capital increase without pre-emptive subscription rights with a maximum of 10% of capital. The result is approved at 92.69%. Twenty-first resolution, authorization to proceed with a capital increase in order to remunerate contributions in kind, maximum 10% of the capital. Approved at 92.62%. Twenty-second resolution, authorization to proceed with a capital increase in the event of the issue of contingent convertible super subordinated bonds with a maximum 10% of capital. That resolution is the same as for 2018, and it has been approved once again 93.06%.
23rd resolution, authorization to proceed with a capital increase as part of the company or group employee savings plan with a cap set at 1.5% of the capital, 26 months, and with a write-down of 20%. The result is approved at 98.96%. 24th resolution. Free allocation of performance shares for regulated staff or considered as such. The cap is 1.2% of capital, including 0.1% for corporate offices. The cap is slightly lower. It used to stand at 1.4%. The result is approved at 97.3%. 25th resolution, allocation of free shares to employees who are neither regulated nor considered as such, with a cap of 0.5% of the capital. A slightly lower cap, it used to be 0.6% previously. The result is approved 99.15%. 26th resolution, authorization to proceed with the cancellation of repurchased shares, limit 5% of capital. The result is approved 97.92%.
27th resolution, amendment to the requirements for exceeding statutory thresholds, alignment with rules applying to legal thresholds, and a streamlining or simplification for thresholds to be reported with a threshold set at 1.5%, 3%, and then in steps of 1% reporting timeframe of four business days. That has been approved at 83.61%. 28th resolution, implementing the PACTE Law in order to calculate employee shareholder. That was approved 98.98%. 29th resolution, process for electing a director representing employee shareholders. That was covered earlier by Lorenzo. It will increase the board of directors to the tune of one member in 2021. The general meeting will have to choose this board member in 2021. For the modification of the statutes, the result is approved 98.96%. 30th resolution, a statutory amendment authorizing the board of directors to proceed via written consultation within the limits set by law. Result is approved 98.9%.
31st resolution, drafting amendments applied to the bylaws and applying the PACTE Law to the board of directors, factoring in of social and environmental aspects of the company's business. That has been approved at 99.03%. 32nd resolution, powers for formalities. Result, 99.81%. On that, I'd like to hand over the floor to director for the conclusion.
Thank you, Patrick. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your trust, and congratulations to Juan Maria and Annette Messemer in particular. Appointed directors, thank you for your trust. For 2020, the general meeting will be held on the 18th of May. We hope that we'll be able to organize it under normal circumstances as in previous years. I wish to all of you that in the coming weeks you remain in good health, and I thank you once again for your trust. Have a wonderful evening, and thank you once again.