Banco Santander's board of directors approved changes to simplify its corporate structure from 15 divisions to 11. This aims to improve the bank's ability to respond to customer needs and meet financial targets. Key changes include consolidating technology and operations roles, creating a new regulatory relations unit, and integrating private banking into retail banking. The restructure follows Santander's appointment of a new executive chairman in September and aims to create a more agile organization to capture growth opportunities.

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Comunicación Externa.
Ciudad Grupo Santander Edificio Arrecife Pl. 2
28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Telf.: 34 91 289 52 11
email: comunicacionbancosantander@gruposantander.com
Press Release
Santander simplifies its corporate structure and
reduces its corporate divisions from 15 to 11
Madrid, 16 January, 2015 - Banco Santander’s board of directors today approved changes
that simplify its corporate structure, reducing the number of divisions from 15 to 11, while
further enhancing risk management. These changes will contribute to improve the bank’s
ability to respond to customers’ needs and to accomplish the ambitious financial and business
targets it has set.
The appointments, which are subject to the pertinent regulatory authorizations are:
• Rodrigo Echenique, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, will also be Executive
Director, to whom following regulators’ recommendations regarding corporate
governance, the Compliance function will report, alongside other duties delegated to
him by the Group’s Executive Chairman
• José María Fuster, Senior Executive Vice-President and until now head of the
Technology and Operations division, will become the corporate Director of Innovation
reporting directly to the Group’s Executive Chairman. Mr. Fuster will lead new
strategies to position the Bank as an international reference in innovation and
technology applied to banking.
• Andreu Plaza has been appointed Senior Executive Vice-President and head of
Technology and Operations. Mr. Plaza, with extensive experience in banking
technology, has contributed decisively to the technological transformation of
Santander U.K. s Corporate and Commercial Banking.
The new structure separates the functions for defining digital strategies (innovation)
from implementation, execution and development (technology and operations).
• Rami Aboukhair, until now Executive Vice-President, has been appointed Senior
Executive Vice-President. Mr. Aboukhair, who has extensive knowledge of retail
banking, will join Santander Spain as head of Retail, Commercial and Corporate
Banking. He will report to Enrique García Candelas, the country head of Spain who
also oversees Global Banking and Markets, risk, management and organization, costs
and the rest of the support areas in Spain.
• Once the restructure of the property assets in Spain is completed, the Recoveries
division under Remigio Iglesias, Senior Executive Vice-President, will be integrated as
a corporate area under the Risk division directed by José María Nus, Senior Executive
Vice-President in charge of risk, who reports directly to Matías Rodriguez Inciarte,
Group Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Board’s Risks Committee.

2. 2
Comunicación Externa.
Ciudad Grupo Santander Edificio Arrecife Pl. 2
28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Telf.: 34 91 289 52 11
email: comunicacionbancosantander@gruposantander.com
• An Area of Supervisory and Regulatory Relations is created within the Finance
Division. It will be in charge of global management and coordination with the bank’s
supervisors and regulators, as well as the Group’s units and entities. In particular, the
new area will manage, as a supervised institution, the relationship with the European
Central Bank, the Group’s consolidated supervisor. José Manuel Campa, until now
head of Investor Relations, will take up this responsibility, reporting to Jose García
Cantera, Senior Executive Vice-President and head of the Financial Division.
• The Private Banking, Asset Management and Insurance Division will be integrated in
the Retail and Commercial Banking Division headed by Javier San Félix, Senior
Executive Vice-President. Luis Moreno, Senior Executive Vice-President, will be
responsible for Private Banking reporting to the head of the division.
• With a goal to strengthen Santander’s positioning in universities, Santander
Universities, which is a corporate area headed by José Antonio Villasante, Senior
Executive Vice-President, will continue to report, as a corporate area, to the Group’s
executive chairman and will also report functionally to the Retail and Commercial
Banking Division for the commercial relationships with Universities and higher-
education institutions.
• Víctor Matarranz, Senior Executive Vice-President and Head of the Executive
Chairman’s Office, will also take responsibility for Strategy. The new area will be called
Chairman’s Office and Strategy.
• José Luis de Mora, Executive Vice-President, has been appointed Senior Executive
Vice-President and will continue to head the Financial Planning and Corporate
Development area, reporting directly to the CEO and functionally to the Chairman’s
Office and Strategy area.
Banco Santander’s CEO, José Antonio Álvarez, said: “The changes approved today
complement the restructuring that started in September with the new Executive Chairman.
They will enable us to capture further growth opportunities which require the more agile,
flexible and decentralized organization we are now implementing. We want Santander to be
the best place to work, the best bank for our customers, with growing and sustainable
profitability for shareholders, while contributing to the progress of the societies where we
work.”