Banco de Santander

   The Banco de Santander was founded in 1857 by a group of merchants in that city. The expansionary phase, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, took it from being a predominantly regional bank to being a national bank with international representation throughout western Europe. Jointly with Bank of America it created the Banco Interconti-nental Español (Bankinter), and later, with Metropolitan Life, the insurance company Santander Metropolitan. It also has a substantial stake in First Union, the seventh largest US bank, owns the Portuguese Banco de Comércio e Indústria, and has a cross-share agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland. It has important shareholdings in the major electricity company Endesa and in telecommunications. But the most dramatic acquisition of recent years has been that of the crisisridden Banesto, one of Spain's major banks, brought down by the disastrous management of Mario Conde, subsequently investigated for alleged fraud. Following the discovery of massive irregularities in its accounts, Banesto was placed under the control of the Banco de España in 1993, and in 1994 Banco de Santander successfully bid for ownership in the face of competition from two other bidders, BBV and Banco Argentaria. One of the conditions of the purchase was that Santander had to keep Banesto as a distinct entity for a minimum of four years, after which the process of absorption would be implemented. The Santan-der's strategy has been to sell the large industrial interests of Banesto and convert it to its own style of commercial banking. The Santander-Banesto conglomerate is the largest Bank in Spain and the 45th in the world. A further distinctive mark in the history of the Santander is the introduction in 1989 of interest-bearing current accounts (known as supercuentas) virtually unknown in Spanish commercial banking until then. This marked the beginning of a marketing revolution among Spanish banks in attracting clients" deposits.

   C. A. LONGHURST