Banco Santander S.A., trading as Santander Group (UK: SAN-tən-DAIR, -tan-, US: SAHN-tahn-DAIR, Spanish: [ˈbaŋko santanˈdeɾ]), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Santander. It is Europe's 4th largest bank by assets, with $2.251 trillion in assets and the 16th-largest banking institution in the world. Although known for its European banking operations, it has extended operations across North America and South America, and more recently in continental Asia, and it maintains a presence in most global financial centres.
It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board, a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.. It is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, was ranked 49th in the Forbes Global 2000 (2023) list of the world's biggest public companies.
Many subsidiaries, such as Abbey National, have been rebranded under the Santander name.
Banco Santander is chaired by Ana Botín, daughter and granddaughter of former chairmen Emilio Botin-Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos and Emilio Botín-Sanz de Sautuola López, respectively.
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History
Banco Santander was founded in 1857 as Banco de Santander. Santander expanded in Latin America during the mid-1990s and early 2000s through acquisitions across the region. These operations became an important source of earnings for the Group during the following decades and particularly in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Historical research has emphasised that the success of Santander's expansion in Latin America depended not only on acquisitions but also on the integration of management practices and the way it deployed information technology across the region.
In 1999, it merged with Banco Central Hispano, or BCH, which had in turn been formed through the 1991 merger of Banco Central and Banco Hispanoamericano. The combined bank, known as Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH, was designed to be a "merger of equals", in which the top executives of the two pre-existing firms would share control of the merged entity.
Soon after the merger former BCH executives accused Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos of trying to push his own agenda and threatened to take legal action. This post-merger disagreement was resolved when BCH executives Jose Amusátegui and Angel Corcóstegui agreed to accept severance payments, retire and pass control to Botín, at an expense to shareholders of €183 million. The large termination payouts generated negative press, and Botín was eventually brought to trial on criminal charges of "misappropriation of funds" and "irresponsible management". However, in April 2005, the court cleared him of all charges, the €164 million retirement payments made to the two former executives having been found to be legal, "made as compensation for the services provided to the bank". Also that year, the anti-corruption division of the Spanish public prosecutor's office cleared Botín of all charges in a separate case, in which he was accused of insider trading.
In 2007, the bank officially changed the official name back to Banco Santander S.A. In 1996, Banco Santander acquired Grupo Financiero InverMexico. In 2000, Banco Santander Central Hispano acquired Grupo Financiero Serfin of Mexico.
On 26 July 2004, Banco Santander Central Hispano announced the acquisition of Abbey National plc. Following shareholders' approval at the EGM of Abbey (95 percent voted in favour, despite vocal opposition from most of those present) and Santander, the acquisition was formally approved by the courts and Abbey became part of the Santander Group on 12 November 2004.
Operations
The Santander Group operates across Europe, South America, North America and Asia, partly due to its acquisitions. As of 2013 it had more than 186,000 employees, 14,392 branches, 3.26 million shareholders and 102 million customers. Retail banking — the main aspect of Santander's operations – generates 74% of the group's profit. The top markets by revenue in 2023 were: Brazil (21.6%), Spain (17.4%), the US (12.3%), the UK (11.2%), Mexico (10.2%), Poland (6.3%), Chile (3.9%) and Portugal (3.6%).
On 10 June 2010, Grupo Santander announced that it would invest approximately US$270 million (€200 million) in Campinas, Brazil in a technology centre for research and data processing and a data centre that was to support operations across North America, Central America and South America. The new centre was to be established within the 'Development Company for High Technology Cluster of Campinas' on 1 million square metres. Construction began in January 2011, and full operation was expected in 2013 offering over 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.
In 2013, global growth equity firm General Atlantic, along with Warburg Pincus LLC, acquired a 50% stake in Santander Asset Management.
In 2010, Banco Santander expanded into China, focusing on trade finance services and establishing a joint venture with China Construction Bank. The venture was set up in 2011 with initial funds of 3.5 billion yuan (US$530 million).
Asia and Australia
BDO Unibank, - Philippines Branch
Africa
Attijariwafa Bank (4.55% share)
Sponsorships
Santander and La Liga had a title sponsorship deal from the 2016–17 season, forming the Spanish football league known commercially as La Liga Santander. Santander sponsored the UEFA Champions League for two years, from the 2018–19 season to 2020–21.
Santander has also sponsored the main South American club competition Copa Libertadores since 2008 for the South American markets.
In Formula One, from 2007 to 2017, Santander was a corporate sponsor of the Ferrari and McLaren teams. From 2022, Santander returned to Formula One as a premium sponsor of Ferrari. In 2024, it was announced that Santander's sponsorship deal with Ferrari would end after the 2025 season. Following this, Santander confirmed it would become an official partner of Williams Racing starting in 2025.
In March 2020, Santander Group in conjunction with La Liga announced the first ever LaligaSantander Fest, a global charity concert event seeking to raise funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.