11 Sep, 2014 @ 11:17
1 min read

Banking giant Santander appoints new chairwoman

Ana Patricia Botín en el Foro Económico Mundial e

SANTANDER’S new boss has been named, following the death of Emilio Botin of a heart attack aged 79.

During his time as chairman, Emilio Botin transformed Santander from a small domestic lender into the Eurozone’s biggest bank.

Ana Botin – the former chairman’s daughter – will now take over Spain’s banking giant after being appointed by the board of directors.

The 53-year-old – who was previously the chief executive of Santander UK, and has been on the bank’s board since 1989 – is the fourth generation of the Botin family to take the top spot.

“The appointments and remuneration committee considered Ana Botin to be the most appropriate person, given her personal and professional qualities, experience, track record in the group and her unanimous recognition both in Spain and internationally,” said a spokesperson for the bank.

Business editor of the BBC, Kamal Ahmed, added that it would ‘not be too much of an exaggeration to put her in the top three women in the world with significant financial power’, along with Christine Lagarde at the IMF and Janet Yellen at the Federal Reserve.

However, the appointment of Ana Botin could spark controversy now, as banking dynasties the world over are coming under scrutiny, following a scandal involving the founding family’s ‘financial irregularities’ at Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo.

“Succession shouldn’t just be saying ‘my daughter’s going to take over’,” said a corporate governance expert at a global asset manager which owns Santander shares.

Imogen Calderwood

DO YOU HAVE NEWS FOR US at Spain’s most popular English newspaper - the Olive Press? Contact us now via email: newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call 951 273 575. To contact the newsdesk out of regular office hours please call +34 665 798 618.

4 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

France Spain e
Previous Story

Spain crash out of basketball World Cup in defeat to France

shaking hands e
Next Story

Launch of new women’s networking event in Manilva

Latest from Business & Finance

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press