Santander keeps it in the family with new CEO

The chairman of the Madrid-based bank Santander, Emilio Botin, has appointed his daughter Ana Patricia Botin to head their UK division after losing António Horta-Osório to Lloyd’s bank.

Ana Patricia Botin, who is the first female chief executive of a major British high street bank, is the fifth generation of a family who has risen to dominance in the Spanish banking world over the last 150 years.

Educated at Harvard and having cut her teeth at Santander's other Spanish bank, Banesto, for the past eight years, Ana Patricia has marked herself out as a formidable talent and was named Financial Times's European Businesswoman of the Year for two years running. She was also responsible for recruiting António Horta-Osório in 1993.

"Ana Patricia Botín is good," Andrew Lim, an analyst at Matrix, told Reuters. "She is highly regarded in banking circles. Banesto is one of the better quality Spanish domestic banks. She knows her stuff and has done a good job there."

The Botin family entered the world of banking in 1857 and own what is now Spain’s biggest bank and the UK's third biggest high street bank.

Emilio Botin, his father and his grandfather have all been chairman of the business and Ana Patricia’s move to UK head is seen as preparation for her to continue the family legacy.

Read a full report at the Guardian. ·