The Board of Directors of Santander Holdings USA (SHUSA) announced yesterday that Scott Powell has been named Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Mr. Powell brings extensive experience in retail banking, risk management and consumer and auto lending to Santander. He has held a variety of roles at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., including Head of Banking and Consumer Lending Operations, CEO of Consumer Banking and Retail Investments, Head of Consumer Lending, as well as Chief Risk Officer, Consumer. He also spent 14 years at Citi in a variety of risk management roles. Most recently, Mr. Powell was Executive Chairman of National Flood Services Inc.
Santander Group Executive Chairman Ana Botín said: “We are delighted to have Scott join our team. His expertise and experience in retail banking, consumer finance and risk management will be a great contribution as we work to improve customer service, enhance our U.S.-wide oversight and embed our banking culture across the U.S.”
SHUSA Non-Executive Chairman T. Timothy Ryan, Jr., said: “Scott’s appointment is an important step toward our goal of strengthening Santander Holdings USA to manage our U.S. businesses. This will include bringing all the U.S. units together within SHUSA by the middle of this year.”
Santander Holdings USA, a fully-owned subsidiary of Banco Santander of Spain, owns 100% of Santander Bank, N.A. and 60.5% of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. of Dallas. Besides these units, Santander activities in the U.S. include a private bank in Miami, Banco Santander International, and businesses in Puerto Rico, including Santander Bancorp. These units’ operations will be consolidated within SHUSA by the middle of 2015.
Román Blanco will continue as CEO of Santander Bank.
Ana Botín said: “I would like to thank Roman for his very able leadership of Santander US. I am delighted he will continue to lead Santander Bank, where his focus will be on strengthening the Bank in its U.S. northeast footprint by improving customer service, attracting new customers and deepening customer relationships.”
Santander Holdings USA (SHUSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Banco Santander. Banco Santander is a diversified global retail and commercial bank offering a wide range of financial products and has over 103 million customers worldwide. SHUSA owns 100% of Santander Bank, N.A., a retail and commercial bank with 703 branches and 9,703 employees in the U.S. northeast, and 60.5% of the common stock of Santander Consumer USA Holdings, a Dallas, Texas-based national vehicle finance and unsecured consumer lending company.