The firm is reportedly planning to re-open a branch in Australia and apply for a licence.

Paris-based Societe Generale is planning to re-open a branch in Australia, according to Reuters. This comes several years after the firm wound down its local operations.

The bank has also reportedly applied for an Australian banking licence, in a move which would it see it bolster its operations in the region.

The Paris-headquartered banking group, which provides services including private banking, is committed to Australia and that it had “never exited” the market, a spokesperson was quoted as saying, but declined to give details of the banking licence application.

The license issuer, the Australian Prudential Regulator Authority (APRA), and Societe Generale both declined to comment to this news service about the licence.

The French bank last week applied to re-register the name for a branch in Sydney, after cancelling the name registration in mid-2012, the reports said.

A branch and a banking licence would allow the bank to raise funds in Australia and lend to local companies directly rather than through its offshore operations.

Societe Generale began operating in Australia in 1981 but has not been listed as a licencee by the country’s banking regulator since 2012, according to online records of the Australian Prudential Regulator Authority (APRA).

According to Reuters, the offshore market share by European banks in Australia has fallen from over 25 per cent a decade ago, to about 16 per cent in 2017.