Spanish banking giant Banco Santander SA (STD) Monday appointed Colombian banker Gabriel Jaramillo as the new chairman and chief executive of its U.S. unit Sovereign Bancorp Inc.

Jaramillo, aged 58, is already a member of Sovereign's board of directors. He joined Santander in 1996 and worked on several of the bank's acquisitions in Latin America. Jaramillo is also an advisor to Santander Chairman Emilio Botin.

During his career at Santander, Jaramillo also served as chairman of Santander Colombia from 1997-1999. More recently he was president of Santander Brazil.

Santander made the announcement at an extraordinary shareholders meeting to approve a share issue to buy the 75% of Sovereign it doesn't already own.

Company Web site: www.santander.com

-By Christopher Bjork, Dow Jones Newswires, 34 91395 8123, christopher.bjork@dowjones.com

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