Santander's History

Milestones in Santander's history

• Santander’s history began on 15 May 1857, when Queen Isabel II signed a royal decree authorising the incorporation of the founding of Santander. Right from the start it was a bank open to the outside world, being initially linked to trade between the port of Santander in the north of Spain and Latin America.

• In 1934, Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola y López was appointed managing director of the bank and in 1950, he took on the chairmanship and began a large-scale expansion throughout Spain which was to continue in the '60s with the acquisition of a large number of local banks.

• In 1947, it opened its first regional office in the Americas, in Havana (Cuba), which was followed by others in Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela, and also an office in London. In 1956 the bank’s Latin American department was set up.

• By 1957, on its hundredth anniversary, the Banco de Santander had become the seventh-ranked finance house in Spain.

• In 1986, current chairman Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos, then Vice-chairman and CEO, was chosen to cover the vacancy opened up by his father’s retirement after 36 years at the helm of the bank. His first two years as chairman were spent laying the foundations for the challenge of the bank’s modernisation and expansion.

• In the late '80s, Santander bolstered its presence in Europe by acquiring CC-Bank in Germany, a bank with over three decades of experience in the vehicle finance market, from Bank of America. A stake was also acquired in Banco de Comercio e Industria in Portugal, and an alliance formed with The Royal Bank of Scotland in 1988.

• In 1989, the 'Supercuenta Santander' was launched, one of the most innovative products in the history of Spanish banking, which did away with the 'status quo' and opened up the Spanish financial system to competition.

• In 1994, the acquisition of Banco Español de Crédito (Banesto) became a major historic event in the history of  Santander, making it the leading player in the Spanish market.

• In 1995, a second flurry of expansion in Latin America began, which allowed it to develop its business in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. At the same time, there was a renewed boost to the businesses already acquired in Chile, Puerto Rico and Uruguay.

• In January 1999, Banco Santander and BCH were the protagonists in the first major banking merger in Europe under the euro. This was the start of the largest finance house in Spain and the leader in Latin America. Subsequently the bank bought financial group Totta y Açores and Crédito Predial Portugués in Portugal.

• From the year 2000, the Group was joined by Banespa in Brazil, Grupo Serfín in Mexico and Banco Santiago in Chile. This consolidated the Group’s position as the leading financial franchise in Latin America.

• In 2003, the Group set up Santander Consumer when it merged German company CC-Bank, the Italian Finconsumo, Hispamer in Spain and other Group companies. This new consumer banking franchise today has a presence in 12 European countries (Spain, the UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Norway and Sweden), in the USA, through Drive Finance, and it has recently struck an agreement to start up its first operation in Latin America, in Chile.

• In April 2004, it moved its Central Services in Madrid to the new headquarters, Santander City, where 6,800 people work today. That same year, in November, another major landmark was reached with the Group’s takeover of Abbey, the sixth largest bank in the United Kingdom.

• In 2006, Santander made record profits of  €7.596 billion, the biggest of any Spanish company, spurring heavy investment in retail banking and quality of service. 'We want to be your bank' (Queremos ser tu banco) in Spain and other enterprising action in Portugal, at Abbey and in America are examples of this drive.

• In 2007, Santander held its 150th anniversary as the world’s 12th largest bank by market capitalization, the 7th in terms of profit and the bank with the largest retail network in the western world, with 10,852 branches.

• In 2008, Santander acquired Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley (savings) and completed the acquisition of Sovereign Bancorp in the USA.