MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Santander on Thursday said its Chief Executive Officer Jose Antonio Alvarez will report exclusively to the bank’s board as part of a change in its corporate governance structure while accelerating its digital transformation.
Until now, Alvarez also reported to Chairman Ana Botin, who will keep her executive role.
As opposed to the Anglo-Saxon model, at many Spanish lenders the chairman holds executive powers and is in control of strategy while the CEO handles the day-to-day business.
Sound governance of euro area banks is one of the main priorities for supervisors, which favour a division of control between executive and non-executive board members and a clear division of responsibilities between the chairman and the chief executive officer.
Santander also announced changes to its operational structure to accelerate its digital transformation.
As part of these changes, the bank said new tech units, PagoNxt and Digital Consumer Bank, would be supervised by Botin, while Santander ‘s regions, countries and global businesses would continue to report to Alvarez.
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Nathan Allen)
