Marcial Portela, head of the Group’s businesses in Brazil, has resigned from his executive role at Banco Santander Brasil. However, he will continue as chairman of the board of directors. Jesús Zabalza will be the new CEO of Santander Brasil. Javier San Felix will head the Americas division, replacing Jesús Zabalza. The Americas division comprises Grupo Santander’s businesses in Latin America excluding Brazil.
Marcial Portela (Vigo, 1945) managed the integration of Santander Brasil and Banco Real, which was acquired from Dutch group ABN Amro, and has been head of this subsidiary for the last three years.
Jesús Zabalza (Baracaldo, 1958), who has in-depth knowledge of the Latin American financial market, has held executive roles in BBV, Argentaria, La Caixa and, since 2002, as senior executive vice president of Banco Santander in the Americas division, which he has headed since last year.
Javier San Félix (Madrid, 1967), senior executive vice president at Banco Santander and Banesto’s CEO until its merger with Banco Santander, will head the Americas division. He joined Santander Consumer Finance in 2004, where he took up responsibilities as director of strategic planning, head of the non-euro business area and head of integration of mergers and acquisitions. In May, 2012, he was appointed CEO of Banesto, which will complete its legal merger with Banco Santander in the next few days.
The appointments of Marcial Portela and Jesús Zabalza are subject to the relevant regulatory approvals in Brazil.