Priced to support post-deal performance; Mexican equity story outshines Brazil’s

It’s never quiet in UK banking these days. In a fitting episode of handbags at dawn, Ana Botín, the chief executive of Santander UK, reneged on an agreement to buy 316 branches from RBS. The provisional sale agreement had been signed in the summer of 2010 when António Horta-Osório was running Santander UK. Santander wanted to expand its penetration of the small-business market and was prepared to pay £1.65 billion to do so.

Amid all the gloom around the difficulty for small businesses of raising bank funding, Euromoney is delighted to receive notification that Tortilla – a chain of fast-casual restaurants selling Californian-Mexican food in various City locations, including Canary Wharf, Leadenhall Market and Bankside – has just negotiated a £2.25 million loan from Santander Corporate bank to fund its continued expansion.

Santander is taking a gamble that market volatility will not return in September at levels that could call off the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its Mexican subsidiary.

Santander’s 2010 acquisition of a 70% stake in Poland’s Bank Zachodni put it in a strong position in Europe’s most resilient economy. Now, in a smart all-share deal, the Spanish bank is adding Kredyt Bank to its Polish portfolio.

In July Euromoney’s 2012 Awards for Excellence dinner in London was attended by 500 people. The evening raised £482,595 for Amref and Orbis, charities working towards eliminating blinding trachoma in the south Omo area of southern Ethiopia

Santander continues to confound its sceptics and produce impressive returns for two main reasons: the diversity of its business, and the simple fact that is a very well run bank.

All Spanish banks have been dragged down by their home country’s financial crisis. In Santander’s case, it’s not by nearly as much as you probably think. The bank’s diversified geographic mix has enabled it to continue to generate exceptional earnings. Its model of subsidiaries has been shown to work. Isn’t it about time the markets saw through the clouds of crisis and realized what Santander actually is?

Santander and Deutsche win main prizes at Euromoney’s Awards for excellence; Standard Chartered’s Sands named Banker of the year; Banks raise £482,595 for charity project in Ethiopia

Santander spends huge sums promoting its brand in the glorified world of Grand Prix racing. It sponsors races across continents. Its chairman Emilio Botín is often seen in the pit lane.

The Spanish bank began its systematic wealth-management strategy in Latin America in 2007. It has paid off handsomely in our latest survey. But other banks are pushing hard to beat it.

“One-off” Santander swap rings alarm bells over health of bank

Santander cashes out in Chile; HSBC puts up Losango

As Banco Santander prepares to sell a near 8% stake in its Chilean business, Euromoney Skew reveals that it is a sign of the times in Latin America

Region contributes 43% of group income; Argentine unit prepares for IPO

Latin America could account for half of Santander’s total profits within three years, with Brazil, Mexico and Chile leading the way, says a senior executive at the Spanish bank.

Santander Investment, JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the mandated bookrunners for a potential $100 million IPO of Santander’s Argentine subsidiary.

Part of south-south trade flow trend; More such deals are likely

CLS has announced that Banco Santander has become a settlement member of CLS Bank, bringing the total number of members to 61.

When Santander Chile priced a $1.2 billion triple-tranche bond in September, one of the tranches was a 10-year peso bond, worth an equivalent $500 million. It was the region’s first Europeso corporate bond since the global financial crisis and an illustration of how investors, especially from overseas, want to capture the yield and carry from Latin America’s local assets.

Spanish bank buys BofA’s minority stake; Valuation now $10 billion

Analysts say forbearance disguises scale of bad debt problem; Santander insists its own stress tests give it confidence

Santander has been one of the winners of the credit crunch. Its chief executive, Alfredo Sáenz, believes the bank’s success has been due to sticking to a model that was appropriate through the cycle. Euromoney asks him how the bank is adapting to pressures from the market and the regulators.

Balance sheet strengthened to create billions in economic capital; IPO of 15% of Brazilian operation weighed

Setubal wants to buy outside Brazil; Barbosa confident that Santander Real merger will be complete within a year

The basics don’t change.

Among the delegates at the 2008 Felaban conference in Panama City were two senior members of the fixed-income department at Santander, named best bank in Euromoney’s 2008 Awards for Excellence in July. The Spanish bank sent Dan Vallimarescu (head of DCM) and Erik Deiden (senior VP) to the conference but unfortunately managed to book their trip so late that the best hotels available were not exactly Panama’s finest.

The credit crisis has, so far, raised Santander’s relative standing among its peers, as the Spanish bank has sidestepped some of the pitfalls of its rivals and picked up a few bargain acquisitions. The bank’s reputation for savvy deal-making has also been enhanced, making it surely one of the most sought after financial sector clients for any investment bank.

As foreign banks – with the notable exception of Santander – draw in their horns, local mid-tier banks are racing to take advantage of the domestic boom in Brazil. Chloe Hayward reports.

The chief executives of 11 of the world's biggest banks discuss the lessons they have learnt from the global financial crisis, their concerns over a regulatory backlash, and how they plan to rebuild profitability in the toughest markets in history.