The Santander Group is a Spanish banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A. and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. It originated in Santander, Cantabria, Spain.According to Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies, Santander appeared in 23rd place in April 2012.The 1999 merger of Banco Santander (founded in 1857) and Banco Central Hispano (founded in 1991) following the merger of Banco Central [est. 1919] and Banco Hispanoamericano [est. 1900], created Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH.This merger between Santander and Banco Central Hispano (BCH) was designed to be a "merger of equals" in which the top executives of the two pre-existing firms would share control of the merged entity. Soon after the merger former BCH executives accused chairman of Banco Santander Emilio Botín of trying to push his own agenda and threatened to take legal action against him. This post-merger squabbling was resolved when BCH executives Jose Amusátegui and Angel Corcóstegui agreed to accept severance payments, retire and relinquish control to Mr. Botín, at an expense to shareholders of €164M.The large termination payouts generated negative press and Botín was eventually brought to trial on criminal charges of "misappropriation of funds" and "irresponsible management." However, he was cleared of all charges in April 2005. The verdict said the €164M retirement payments made to the two former executives were legal, "made as compensation for the services provided to the bank." That year the anti-corruption division of the Spanish public prosecutor's office also cleared Mr. Botín of all charges in a separate case in which he was accused of insider trading.On 10 June 2010, Grupo Santander announced an investment of approximately US$270 million (€200 million) in Campinas, Brazil for a technology centre, research and data processing, which will include a next-generation data center. The centre will support the group's operations across North America, Central America and South America.Based on a plot of 1 million square metres, the new centre will be established within the technology park known as 'Development Company for High Technology Cluster of Campinas', which includes more than 20 other companies. Construction on the site began in January 2011, and it is planned that the park will be fully operational within two years. There will be over 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Net income € 8.187 billion (2011)
Total assets € 1.218 trillion (2011)