MADRID: The Spanish banking giant Santander on Monday announced the resignation of chief executive Alfredo Saenz, who was convicted in 2011 for irregularities in a debt-recovery case.
He will be replaced by Javier Marin, Santander's current head of insurance, asset management and private banking, said the bank, which is the eurozone's biggest by capitalisation.
It gave no reason in its statement for the "voluntary resignation" of Saenz, 70, who had been chief executive since 2002 and had looked likely to succeed Emilio Botin as executive chairman.
Saenz was convicted in 2011 of lodging false charges against certain creditors in order to reclaim debts from them, but no final sentence has been pronounced against him.
In November 2011 the outgoing Socialist government commuted his initial sentence, a suspended jail term and a banking ban, to a fine.
But Spain's Supreme Court partially quashed that decision this month.
The offences date to 1994 when Saenz was chairman of Banesto, a bank that was bought that year by Santander.
Saenz is eligible for a pension of 88.2 million euros ($115 dollars) and was paid 8.2 million euros by the bank last year, according to its annual report.
The bank said it had nearly quadrupled in size during his tenure, with assets growing from 358 billion euros to 1.25 trillion euros.
"The board of directors expressed its recognition of and gratitude for Alfredo Saenz' extraordinary achievements since joining the group," it said in a statement.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government this month passed a decree allowing bankers with penal convictions to continue working in the sector if the Spanish central bank gave its authorization.
That was seen as a positive step for Saenz on his way towards replacing Botin at the top of Santander.
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