BOSTON, July 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Euromoney
magazine has named Santander the Best Bank in Western Europe, Spain, Mexico
and Argentina in its 2014 annual
awards.
The international financial magazine highlighted the Santander
Group's geographic diversification and network of
separately-capitalized subsidiaries in its selection.
Euromoney also recognized the Bank's large retail banking
and consumer financing businesses in Europe, which produced a significant share of
group earnings.
In addition to Western Europe,
Santander was awarded "2014 Best Bank" by Euromoney in five
of the Bank's main markets: Spain,
Portugal, Mexico, Argentina and Puerto
Rico.
Euromoney underlined the successful merger of Santander,
Banesto and Banif in Spain in
2013, noting that it was completed ahead of schedule and had
achieved market share gains in customer funds and deposits, while
cutting the cost of time deposits by 170 basis points. Regarding
the Bank's presence in Portugal,
it noted that Santander "continues to tower above the other
Portuguese banks" and was the only bank in the country that needed
no state aid during the European financial crisis.
Regarding Santander's Latin American operations,
Euromoney recognized the Bank's growth in Mexico, where it expanded its portfolio by
12.6%, increased net earnings by 17.1%, and achieved the best
efficiency rate among banks in the country. In Argentina, Euromoney noted that
Santander Rio maintained its market
leading position in loans and deposits from the private sector. In
Puerto Rico, it noted that,
despite the difficult operating environment, Santander grew its
attributable profit by 40%.
Euromoney, founded in 1969, is a recognized leader in
business and financial news commentary and is read by senior
executives, regulators and government officials in more than 170
countries. The media outlet's readers are mainly in Europe, which accounts for 30% of its
subscribers, with 23% in the UK, 23% in the US, and the remainder
in Latin America and Asia. Euromoney's annual Awards for
Excellence program is a banking industry benchmark. The award
winners are selected by the Euromoney editors according to
objective measures including profitability, growth and efficiency,
in addition to subjective criteria.
Santander's holdings in the United
States include Santander
Bank, N.A., the retail and commercial bank with main
corporate offices in Boston
operating in nine northeastern states, and Santander Consumer
USA, the Dallas-based consumer and auto finance
company.
About Santander
Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is a retail and
commercial bank, based in Spain,
with a presence in 10 main markets. Santander is the largest bank
in the euro zone by market capitalization. Founded in 1857,
Santander had EUR 1.24 trillion in
managed funds, 103 million customers, 13,927 branches – more than
any other international bank – and 182,958 employees at the close
of 2013. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin
America. It also has significant positions in the
United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Poland and the northeast United States. Santander registered
EUR 4.37 billion in attributable
profit in 2013, an increase of 90% from the previous year.
Santander Bank, N.A. is a top
retail bank in the United States
by deposits. Its main corporate offices are in Boston and it operates principally in
Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Santander's 9,469 employees
serve its 1.8 million customers through the Bank's 706 branches,
2,084 ATMs, call centers, website and mobile app. Supervised by the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and a member of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Santander in the United States is a wholly-owned,
financially autonomous subsidiary of Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN), a
global commercial and retail bank. For more information about
Santander, visit www.santanderbank.com or call 877-768-2265.
SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A.