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Frederic Oudea, chairman and chief executive officer of Societe Generale, center, speaks at a news conference in Paris, France, on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010.Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg

The euro lives on and the sovereign debt crisis has stabilized, but Europe and its financial institutions will wrestle with turmoil of all stripes over the next decade, according to one of the region's most vocal bank heads.

Frédéric Oudéa, chief executive of Société Générale SA, stressed Europe's financial system has come a long way, both during a speech and in an interview in Toronto on Thursday. But he argued no one can afford to breathe easy. To stay competitive, the region must keep evolving.

In Europe, Mr. Oudéa said banks must find ways to lend money and stimulate the economy despite tough new regulations that limit their risk-taking; they must spend heavily to reinvent their bread-and-butter operations to ward off technological disruption; and they must learn to work together and form a closer-knit banking sector.

As someone who strongly supports a single banking regulator as well as what he dubbed "financial solidarity," Mr. Oudéa is particularly vocal about the need for better integration across national borders – going so far as to support issuing common sovereign debt, otherwise known as euro bonds.

Some of these beliefs are for practical reasons. "Having a regulator speaking on behalf of all banks [is] certainly more efficient than a series of regulators speaking on behalf of the banks of each country," he said. Mr. Oudéa was recently appointed head of the European Banking Federation, which he takes on in January.

But they are also rooted in what he believes is best for the region in an increasingly globalized world. "When Europe speaks united, it has more influence in the determination of international standards," he said, citing trade, climate and banking as examples of important topics. "Europe represents a significant part of the world … and when we speak in common, we have weight."

To Canadians, Mr. Oudéa's views run counter to the perception that Europeans won't work together to solve problems – something highlighted by Germany's opposition to buying sovereign bonds of countries under stress, and the United Kingdom's ongoing opposition to closer integration.

But he says there are others who feels the way he does, and he argues that the situation in Europe is often misunderstood by people in other parts of the world.

For instance, in 2011, when the sovereign debt crisis was at its worst and Société Générale's stock plummeted 60 per cent, Mr. Oudéa met with institutional investors in the U.S. who asked him if people were forming lines at bank branches, scrambling to withdraw whatever money they could. Despite the market turmoil and nasty headlines in the press, Europeans were never that flummoxed.

"It's normal: When you're out of it, [the situation's] more difficult to understand because you're not on the ground," he said.

Mr. Oudéa believes that the current hyperbole around Europe's anemic economic growth and recent volatility in oil prices can make investors fear the worst. What people must realize, he argued, is that Europe's banks now have much more capital, the region's regulators are now much more diligent in their oversight and the system has shown it can survive stress.

For everyone worried that the system is on the brink of collapse, he said recent experiences proved the region's resilience and that "there are ways to deal with crisis."

Despite his frank talk, however, there was one subject Mr. Oudéa would not touch. After his speech at the Canadian Club of Toronto, the foreign CEO was interviewed by Victor Dodig, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's new chief executive, who kicked off the conversation by asking how it feels to be named France's sexiest banking executive.

"It's the only question I will not answer," Mr. Oudéa replied, laughing.

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