By James Sterngold
Former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. executive Blythe Masters has
been appointed nonexecutive chairwoman of Santander Consumer USA
Holdings, the subprime auto lending unit of the Spanish banking
company.
Ms. Masters won't assume a management role at the Dallas-based
auto lending unit, which is 60% owned by Santander Holdings USA,
the American holding company for Banco Santander SA.
After leaving J.P. Morgan last year, Ms. Masters became chief
executive officer of a financial technology startup, Digital Asset
Holdings LLC. She will retain that position, Santander said.
In her last position at J.P. Morgan, Ms. Masters was head of the
global commodities business, but she also served before that as a
senior official in handling regulatory matters and was chief
financial officer of the investment bank. Her financial expertise
could be important to Santander Consumer, which has had problems
with regulators and relies on a business model that requires
outside funding.
Until earlier this month, the chairman and chief executive of
the auto lending company, one of the largest in the country, was
Thomas Dundon, a founder. He resigned his positions following a
broader shake-up of Santander's top management.
Santander Holdings USA has appointed a new chairman and a new
chief executive since late last year, both of them also former J.P.
Morgan executives.
In addition to the appointment of Ms. Masters as a nonexecutive
chairwoman of the board of the auto lending company, Santander said
it had appointed six new board members for Santander Consumer
USA.
These new directors include José García Cantera, Senior
Executive Vice President of Banco Santander; Victor Hill, managing
director of Santander Consumer in the U.K.; Mónica López-Monís
Gallego, Banco Santander's chief compliance officer; Javier
Maldonado, head of the Spanish bank's regulatory and risks
division; Robert J. McCarthy, chairman of Hotel Development
Partners; and William Rainer, the former chairman of the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission.
For the first quarter, Santander Consumer USA reported net
income of $289 million, up from $81.5 million a year earlier. It
had total loan originations of $7.4 billion in the first
quarter.
In February, Santander Consumer USA settled federal allegations
that it had improperly repossessed more than 1,100 vehicles from
military service members without required court orders. It agreed
to pay $9.4 million without admitting to or denying the
allegations.
The company also disclosed last year that it received a civil
subpoena from the Justice Department requesting documents about its
subprime loan underwriting and securitization practices, as well as
a similar request from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Write to James Sterngold at james.sterngold@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Banco Santander SA
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=ES0113900J37
Access Investor Kit for Banco Santander SA
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US05964H1059
Access Investor Kit for JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US46625H1005
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires