Introduction and facts
1. Banco Santander
Banco Santander was founded in Santander and is the largest bank of Spain. Grupo Santander, which is the ‘umbrella’ above the different activities and bancs in different countries, has almost 130.000 employees and 69 million customers. It is the twelfth largest financial group of the world by market value.
2. Abbey National
Abbey is the sixth largest bank of the United Kingdom, with a leading position in the United Kingdom mortgage market, a well-built distribution network, an established brand and a wide portfolio of clients. In 2004, the bank was acquired by Banco Santander for EUR 15,6 billion and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Santander.
The two main business divisions are ‘Personal Financial Services’ and the ‘Portfolio Business Unit’. The ‘Personal Financial Services’ consists of three components: the ‘UK Retail Banking’ which provides residential mortgages, savings products, personal banking services, travellers' cheques, foreign currency and general insurance. The ‘wholesale banking’ which is in charge of the liquidity and capital management activities of the bank and also incorporates Abbey’s financial products and short term markets businesses. The last element of this division is ‘Business to Business’ which develops the business relationships of Abbey with intermediaries and generates further opportunities with small and medium sized enterprises and in workplace marketing. The second division, the ‘Portfolio Business Unit’, deals with businesses that are not consistent with Abbey’s ‘Personal Financial Services’ strategy. The intention of the organization is to reduce these businesses while making sure that returns for shareholders are maximized and risk is reduced in a timely manner.
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