Societe Generale said it would sell assets to free up 4 billion euros in fresh capital, although the surprise move failed to stem a sell-off in French bank shares, driven by fears of a Greek debt default. Bad time to sell? Another bailout coming?

It's an attempt by SocGen to fight against the extreme volatility of the Paris Bourse and offset the $13 billion held as Greek sovereign debt.It's in anticipation of the French government having to intervene and re-capitalise the banks, just as Britain had to do in 2008.However SocGen will still have to sell off a projected e25 billion worth of risk-weighted assets to stave off a bailout.The original sell-off is a knee-jerk reaction to a Moody's downgrade and the possibility of Greece exiting the EuroZone.