By Christopher Bjork
MADRID-- Banco Santander SA on Tuesday replaced its chief
executive with its long-standing finance chief and made several
changes to its board of directors, in the first major shake-up at
the eurozone's largest lender since Ana Botín took the reins
following her father's death.
Javier Marín will leave the bank after less than two years as
CEO, to be replaced by Jose Antonio Álvarez, who has spent the past
10 years as the lender's finance chief, the bank said in a
statement. It didn't elaborate on the reasons behind Mr. Marín's
departure.
Ms. Botín, who was chosen as executive chairman in September
following the death of her father Emilio Botín from a heart attack,
also elevated one of her top lieutenants, José García Cantera, to
the post of chief financial officer. Mr. García Cantera was CEO of
Banesto, a former unit of Santander, when Ms. Botín chaired that
bank.
The moves show Ms. Botín is surrounding herself with her allies,
shaking up a board that her father built up over decades.
The Spanish banking giant also announced the appointments of
Bruce Carnegie-Brown as first deputy chairman and lead independent
director of the board. Mr. Carnegie-Brown is chairman of
Moneysupermarket.com, a U.K. price comparison website, and a board
member at Santander's U.K. unit, which Ms. Botín led before she got
the top post at Santander.
Santander also named Catalan businesswoman Sol Daurella, who
chairs the Coca-Cola bottling company in Spain and Portugal, and
Carlos Fernández González, a Mexican national who is a former top
executive of beer maker Grupo Modelo, as independent directors. Mr.
Fernández is a current member of the board of Santander Mexico.
Santander named Rodrigo Echenique, a nonexecutive board member,
as deputy chairman.
The changes will take effect on Jan. 1, Santander said.
"On behalf of the board, I would like to express our gratitude
to Javier Marín, for his great work for Banco Santander for 23
years and especially for his service as CEO," Ms. Botín said.
Mr. Marín, a former chief of staff to Mr. Botín, was named CEO
in April 2013.
Write to Christopher Bjork at christopher.bjork@wsj.com
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