Greek crisis a political, not banking or market issue: SocGen CEO

PARIS (Reuters) - Greece's debt crisis is more of an issue for governments to deal with at this stage than a challenge for markets and banks, Societe Generale Chief Executive Frederic Oudea said on Tuesday. Speaking a financial sector conference, Oudea said that banks had cut their exposure to Greece after suffering losses on their Greek assets five years ago. Societe Generale, the French bank which sold its Geniki Greek bank in 2012, had no exposure to Greece on either its trading or banking books as of the end of the first quarter. "I think the situation is probably more at the end of the day a political one. The question goes beyond the impact on the financial markets and banks," Oudea said. He added that the issue was now more about the euro zone's construction, which explained why governments were so committed to finding a solution. "I think there is a willingness to keep Greece (in the euro zone) as much as possible," Oudea said. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Andrew Callus)