Mr. Rivera will replace António Simões, who has been both regional head of Europe and CEO of Santander Spain. The change will take effect on 1 February 2023.
Mr. Simões will continue as regional head for Europe as a member of the group’s management committee, reporting to the Group CEO and overseeing the businesses in the region, with reporting lines from the country heads of Spain, the UK, Poland and Portugal. In his new role, Mr. Rivera will continue to report to Mr. Simoes.
The appointment of Ángel Rivera will support the continued growth in Spain and help accelerate commercial plans in this market as a combined operational and business model is deployed in Europe’s four main markets under António Simões’ leadership. Mr. Rivera will work closely with Cristina Ruiz, who has been a member of the board of Santander Spain since April 2021 and was appointed head of Transformation in September 2022. Ms. Ruiz will extend her current responsibilities as head of the individuals business, which includes, among others, Retail Products, CRM, Data and Customer Experience.
Ángel Rivera’s career spans over 30 years in the financial industry, joining Santander in April 2013 as Spain’s head of distribution in the retail network and subsequently leading the group’s retail banking division from 2015 to 2017. Mr. Rivera also has international experience and played a critical role in transforming the business in Mexico, where he was head of commercial banking and responsible for business and customer strategy, distribution networks, digital, innovation and commercial planning.
Furthermore, the board of directors of Banco Santander has approved the appointment of Mahesh Aditya as new Group CRO. Mr. Aditya will take up the role in March 2023, subject to the usual regulatory approval process.
Mahesh joined Santander in March 2017 as Chief Operating Officer for Santander Holdings USA, before becoming CRO in 2018, then CEO of Santander Consumer USA (SCUSA) in 2019. During his 32-year career, he has built extensive risk management experience, holding CRO roles at Visa, JP Morgan, Capital One and Citibank. He graduated at BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore and holds an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies at Delhi University.
As Group CRO, Mr. Aditya will be responsible for overseeing Santander’s Risk and Compliance functions, working closely with the group’s countries and global business lines. He will be based in Madrid and replaces Keiran Foad, who will leave the group to return to the UK once the transition period is finalized.
Santander US has today announced that that Bruce Jackson will succeed Mr. Aditya as head of the Santander US Auto business and CEO of SCUSA. Mr. Jackson, who will report directly to Tim Wennes, Santander USA CEO, is currently president of Chrysler Capital and Auto Relationships at Santander Consumer USA. He joined SCUSA from JP Morgan last year and brings outstanding experience in Auto Finance, having held senior leadership roles at Ally Financial and Bank of America among other institutions.
Santander’s Group Executive Chair, Ana Botín, said: “We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Mahesh Aditya as Group CRO and Ángel Rivera as Santander Spain’s CEO. Their appointments reflect the strength of our succession plans and the diversity of our internal talent pool. They are both outstanding professionals and I am confident they will play an important role as we continue to support our customers, helping us deliver sustainable and profitable growth for our shareholders.
Regarding Santander Spain, under António Simões’ leadership, the bank has taken an important step forward and is now more efficient, digital and customer focused. With these changes, we will continue to accelerate execution of our strategy across the region, while also driving Santander Spain into a new phase of growth.”