European banks (2): Spanish Pharaoh still calls the shots

Euroland’s biggest banks? Assets (€bn)
at March 29.1999
   BNP-SG-Paribas 937 Deutsche Bank 522 HypoVereinsbank 406 ABN Amro 380 Dresdner Bank 346 San Paolo Torino-IMI/ Banca di Roma 287 Commerzbank 263 Uni-Credito Italiano/BCI 252 Crédit Lyonnais 228 BSCH 227 Source: Fox-Pitt, Kelton The news of the Banco Santander Banco Central Hispano (BCH) merger in January was at first received with incredulity in Madrid’s financial circles: could it be that Emilio Botín, the godfather of Spanish banking, fourth generation heir to the country’s largest banking empire and holder, by all accounts, of up to 15% of Banco Santander’s equity, was relinquishing the reins of power? But when the dust began to settle on euroland’s most recent banking mega-merger, it became clear that Botín had once more stolen a march on the market.