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Santander’s Great Britain Chairman William Vereker Has resigned and has unveiled a crack with the Spanish parent of the bank and its executive Chair Ana Botín, so the people familiar with the matter.
Vereker who served as a serving as Chairman of the British Business of the Spanish lender Since 2020, he has informed the board that he wanted to resign later this year, according to one of the people.
The bank announced the departure of Vereker on Tuesday after the Financial Times had made an application for a statement to Santander.
Its departure is examined as Santander a number of strategic options for his British business, including A Possible exit from the British retail marketThe FT previously reported before.
Vereker, former manager at UBS and Business, envoys of the ex-prime minister Theresa May, had gathered with the leadership of the group in Madrid about governance and resources that were familiar with the situation.
Vereker told the FT that there was no “personal crack” between him and Botín.
Botín sometimes viewed the British board as obstructive, so two people familiar with the Madrid London dynamics. Another person familiar with the bank said that power in Santander in Madrid was “very centralized”.
As a subsidiary, which is monitored by the Bank of England, Santander UK must have a board separated by the group, with the most important positions filled by independent directors.
The exit from Vereker will create another problem for the Spanish lender, which in the British unit compared to some of the other markets in the group can increase the returns in the British unit. It also faces the assessment of a British court that corresponds to the possible decision Misalepants of car loans.
The balance of British unit has shrunk in recent years, with the total assets of 315 billion GBP back to 275 billion GBP in 2017 at the end of September.
While Botín said last week that Great Britain would remain a “core market” for Santander, the people familiar with the matter said that a potential sale of the High Street Bank was not excluded if a freelancer with an attractive offer turned.
Francisco Risquel, analyst at Alantra Equities, said that Santander “has no good retail franchise in Great Britain” and added: “It is basically a monoline mortgage. 85 percent of the loan book are mortgages. You tried to become a universal retail bank. You didn’t make it. “
Every step of Santander to further enlarge its British business would come for the government at an unpleasant time, who tries to revive the country’s sick economy. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in the World Economic Forum in Davos last week and said that the increase in economic growth was “Mission number one in this government”.
In the meantime, Nicky Morgan, a former conservative minister who sits on the board of Santander UK and in the House of Lords.
Vereker, a contemporary of ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the Elite British Public School Eton, could have remained on the board on the board after the British corporate governance. While the code only applies to groups that are listed in the Category Handels Companies of the London Stock Exchange, it was viewed as proven procedures in British board rooms.