Daniel Bouton is to resign as chairman of Société Générale, one of France’s biggest banks, next week, ending the controversy over his decision to remain following last year’s rogue trading affair that cost the bank €4.9bn ($6.5bn).

In a statement yesterday, Mr Bouton, who headed the bank for more than a decade, said he would go after next week’s annual meeting because of repeated personal attacks that had harmed SocGen’s reputation.