SocGen launches rights issue at deep discount

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), the French bank reeling from a record rogue trading scandal, on Monday launched a rights issue at a steep discount to bolster its capital ratios.

The company said it was launching a one for four rights issue at 47.50 euros per share, which is 38.9 percent below Friday's closing price and dilutes the share capital by 19.9 percent. It aims to raise 5.5 billion euros ($7.97 billion) and announced 600 million in fresh write-downs.

(Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou, Nick Antonovics, Tim Hepher Marcel Michelson)