Santander appoints Ana Botín to chair the board

Following the death of her father, Emilio Botín on September 9, the Grupo Santander appoints Ana Botín to chair the board. Mr. Botín, who was 79, died of a heart attack.

Santander’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint Ana Botin as its chair.

After expressing “deep sorrow” for the death of Emilio Botín, Fernando de Asúa, First Vice-Chairman of the Banco Santander and chairman of the appointemtns and remuneration committee, said:

“Emilion Botín was extremely important for the bank, leading its extraordinary transformation, turning it into the leading bank in the Eurozone and one of the most relevant in the world, and for Spain.”

After the board met, Ana Botín said:

“In these difficult times for me and my family, I appreciate the trust of the board of directors and I am fully committed to my new responsibilities. I have been working at Grupo Santander in different countries and with different responsibilities for many years and I have experienced the professionalism and dedication of our teams.”

“We’ll continue to dedicate all our efforts with total determination to keep building a better bank to our customers, employees and shareholders.”

About Ana Botín

(Source: Grupo Santander)

Ana Patricia Botín-Sanz de Sautuola O’Shea was born in Santander, Spain, in 1960.

In 2005, Forbes Magazine ranked her as the 99th most powerful woman in the world. In 2009, she was ranked 45th. A BBC program called Woman’s Hour ranked her as the 3rd most powerful globally.

Ms. Botín is one of the daughters of the recently-deceased Emilio Botín and Paloma O’Shea, 1st Marquise of O’Shea.

She studied economics at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, United States. She also attended Harvard College at Harvard University.

She joined Santander after working at J.P. Morgan from 1981 to 1988.

She was appointed director of the bank in February 1989, and was re-elected by the general meetings of shareholders in 1991, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2006 and 2014.

From 2010 to September 10, 2014, she was CEO of Santander UK, one of Britain’s biggest banks with 1,300 branches across the country. She was the first woman to head a major British bank.

She is a non-executive director of The Coca-Cola Company.

About The Santander Group

The Santander Group is the biggest bank in the Eurozone by market value, and one of the largest globally by market capitalization.

The company is listed in the stock exchanges of Madrid, London, New York, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Lisbon and Milan.

The group operates across Europe, Latin America, North America, and Asia.

It was founded by seventy-six businessmen in 1857 who were involved in businesses in the Santander area of Spain as well as colonial trade with the Americas.

During the 20th century the bank thrived and became a major financial group in Spain and Latin America.

Today, the group has a strong presence in the (north-east) United States, Poland, Portugal, Germany and the United Kingdom.

It currently has a global network of nearly 14,000 branches, and employs more than 180,000 people.

Tributes to Emilio Botín

Tributes have come from both sides of the Atlantic following the death of Emilio Botín.

United Kingdom

Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group Plc: “(Botín) was a unique banker, the best of his generation and the driving force behind the success of the bank.”

Luqman Arnold, who was CEO of Abbey National Plc, the British bank Santander bought in 2004: “He combined things few people have: strategic genius and courage with enormous attention to detail to day-to-day operations. He was driven by the passion for the brand and the bank, which he felt was his responsibility and obligation.”

Mainland Europe

Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank AG: “Emilio was a visionary in modern banking and a dear friend to me.”

Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS AG: “We will remember him for his energy, his sharp mind and good heart.”

Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA: “Botin was an extraordinary person who leaves a strong bank, a leader in Europe and national champion.”

Isidro Faine, chairman of CaixaBank SA: “Through his long and fruitful professional trajectory, he showed amazing intuition, supported by wide experience and preparation to be always at the vanguard of international financial moves.”

United States

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.: “Emilio Botin was an exceptional man and an outstanding leader. He was a mentor to me, and I will miss him.”

Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.: “Over the years, I have admired and respected his extraordinary achievements at Banco Santander. His example as a visionary and financial statesman will set the standard for many years to come.”