Santander's finances might look at a change in policies after the sudden demise of the bank's head, Emilio Botin; his daughter, Ana Botin, inherits the company's presidency. Members of the Botin family have led the bank, which is the largest in the Eurozone and is scattered broadly across the Old Continent as well as Latin America, for four generations.
Ana, the daughter of Mr. Botin, seems quite prepared for the challenge of managing the company, after having been groomed by her father by over a quarter of a century. She is fluent in five languages and prior to her new appointment as head of the entirety of Santander's finances she had been acting as CEO of Santander UK, a branch that constitutes about a fifth of the bank's overall earnings internationally. With this new promotion, voted unanimously by the Santander board, Ms. Botin becomes one of the banking world's most powerful women.
The Economist places Santander's finances as stable, even though it is currently facing different issues in some of its markets: one fifth of the bank's profits come from the Brazilian branch, a country that has recently fallen back into recession; also, the United States branch has not been without its challenges, as Sovereign, a company Santander bought in 2010, has been proven an issue: the Federal Reserve rejected its capital plan, forcing Santander to refurbish its internal controls.
Besides, Santander's home country Spain has had trouble recovering its economy from its long-running recession; however, only 14% of the bank's entire profits are made in its Mediterranean country of origin.
Santander's finances elsewhere are fairly steady, seeing as under Emilio Botin's leadership it became the largest lender in the euro zone. Reuters estimates Santander's finances to improve this year, raising its profits by over a third; its share price has risen over a quarter when compared to January.
