| Headline: Botín’s coup clears the decks Source: Euromoney Date: October 2001
Banco Santander was clearly the stronger of the two brands and this imbalance was accentuated at the board level, where Emilio Botín, owner of 3% of Santander Central Hispano, had a majority of votes. BCH’s influence on the board was weak despite the presence of the coolly dynamic BCH chief executive Angel Corcóstegui, who was installed as CEO and vice-chairman at Santander Central Hispano at Botín’s request. Corcóstegui, a well-regarded banker, was at Banco Vizcaya at the time of its merger with Banco Bilbao in 1988. He successfully managed to strengthen BCH’s balance sheet and improved the bank’s efficiency and commercial dynamism as CEO. Botín was the third Emilio Botín in the family banking dynasty to chair Banco Santander since 1920 and was crucial in the bank’s aggressive expansion in Spain and Latin America. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||