The new boss of Santander's British arm told UK lawmakers she intends to take part in a government plan to boost business lending, potentially going it alone rather than as part of a group target. Ana Patricia Botin, who started as Santander's UK chief executive on December 1 after former boss Antonio Horta-Osorio was poached to run Lloyds Banking Group, said she remained in talks with the government over "Project Merlin", which aims to boost lending and cap pay for bankers.
"We support the overall objectives of Merlin. Our intention is to participate specifically in the lending commitments ... in our own way," Botin said. The Spanish bank may prefer to sign up for an individual lending target, rather than joining rivals with a group target.
Botin was speaking to lawmakers as part of a probe into industry competition. She said she did not support forcing banks to split investment banking from retail banks. She was speaking as Santander CEO Alfredo Saenz faced the threat of being forced to step down after Spain's Supreme Court barred him from working as a banker, newspaper El Mundo reported on Monday.