Saenz and sensibility

29 April 2013 By George Hay Follow @gfhay

Spain’s biggest bank has settled one succession issue by replacing Chief Executive Alfredo Saenz. The more important call – whether UK head Ana Botin succeeds her father Emilio as chairman – remains an open question. But Saenz’s departure makes her elevation look more likely.

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Alfredo Saenz has stepped down as chief executive of Santander, the Spanish bank, following a legal dispute over whether he should be barred from office.
Saenz, 70, was convicted in 2009 of making false accusations against debtors in the 1990s when he was head of Banesto, which Santander subsequently acquired. He appealed, and in 2011 Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s former prime minister, pardoned him.
Earlier this year the Spanish Supreme Court overturned part of the pardon, opening the way the Bank of Spain to judge whether it should bar Saenz from running a bank. Now he has stepped down, the central bank will not have to make the call.
Santander said on April 29 that Saenz would be replaced as Santander CEO by Javier Marin, currently head of private banking, asset management and insurance.
By 1600 GMT on April 29, Santander shares were trading at 5.6 euros, up 2.7 percent.

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