July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Societe Generale SA Deputy Chief Executive Officer Philippe Collas said the bank has finished the ``bulk'' of its credit writedowns and wasn't ``heavily damaged'' by a trading scandal.

``The bulk of the work is done,'' Collas said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Paris today. Collas, who oversees asset management, private banking, securities services and online banking, wouldn't rule out some further markdowns. ``We are just working on the margin.''

Societe Generale, based in Paris, raised 5.5 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in March to replenish capital following a 4.9 billion-euro loss from unauthorized trading. Collas said today's estimate from an analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. that Societe Generale would write down a further 1.9 billion euros is ``probably a lot too high.''

Banks rose in European trading today after JPMorgan's Kian Abouhossein wrote in a note that ``the worst seems to be over'' for bank writedowns. ``We do not believe that further capital raising is needed at this point.''

Societe Generale gained 1.9 percent to 54.65 euros in Paris trading at 1 p.m., valuing the bank at 32.5 billion euros. Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, gained as much as 5.2 percent in Frankfurt. UBS climbed 3.7 percent to 21.06 Swiss francs in Zurich.

Damage Control

Societe Generale wasn't ``heavily damaged'' from publicity surrounding the unauthorized trading, Collas said. ``After the completion of the rights issue, everything was over. Clients stayed with us and new clients are coming to us.''

SocGen's asset-management business probably stopped net outflows of client money in the second quarter, Collas said. The asset management, also known as SGAM, had a net outflow of 7.3 billion euros in the first quarter, hurt by 5.2 billion euros of withdrawals from money funds, the bank said May 13.

The asset management business is benefiting from demand from Asian clients and from a ` `very balanced'' products mix made up of 40 percent bonds, 40 percent equity and diversified products and 20 percent alternative management, said Collas.

SG Private Banking, which started a partnership with New York-based wealth manager Rockefeller & Co. last month, had a ``record'' 1 billion euros of net new money in May, Collas said. Newedge, a futures broker which began operating in January in which it has a 50 percent stake, is ``going pretty well,'' he added.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jon Menon in London at jmenon1@bloomberg.net; Nina de Roy in London at nderoy1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 2, 2008 07:11 EDT