Under-fire Socgen bosses give up stock options

Four Société Générale executives, including chief executive Daniel Bouton, who had been awarded thousands of stock options each, have agreed to give them up entirely after intense government pressure.op executives at Societe Generale have handed back thousands of stock options after French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned the perks were "unacceptable" given the state aid enjoyed by the bank, an internal letter showed Sunday. Four Societe Generale bosses including chief executive Daniel Bouton, who last week received tens of thousands of stock options each, agreed Friday not to exercise them in the face of angry criticism from the French government. Faced with continued attacks, they announced in a letter to staff at the bank, seen by AFP, they would give them up entirely. "To cut short the controversy, we have decided to renounce these stock options and have informed the board of adminstrators," read the letter, to be mailed out on Monday. Speaking a day after a million people took to the streets to demand a state boost to low wages, Sarkozy warned Friday it was "unacceptable" for executives of firms bailed out with state aid to receive bonuses and stock options. The president made it clear he was referring to Societe Generale, which has received state loans worth 1.7 billion euros (2.3 billion dollars) to help it through the financial crisis. "Obviously, some people are having trouble understanding what we are saying. Wherever there are layoffs, wherever there is state aid, bonuses and stocks options are unacceptable," Sarkozy said.