Powell named CEO of Santander’s U.S. unit

BOSTON – Santander Holdings USA Inc. on Monday announced former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. executive Scott Powell would become CEO of the U.S. unit effective immediately.
The Boston-based subsidiary of Banco Santander SA owns Santander Bank, which has retail branches throughout the northeast in states including Rhode Island. Powell replaces the holding company’s former CEO Román Blanco, who will continue serving as chief executive of the Santander Bank unit.
Powell, most recently executive chairman of National Flood Services Inc., worked in various leadership roles at J.P. Morgan, including CEO of consumer-banking operations and head of consumer lending. He also spent 14 years with Citigroup Inc. working in risk management.
“We are delighted to have Scott join our team. His expertise and experience in retail banking, consumer finance and risk management will be a great contribution as we work to improve customer service, enhance our U.S.-wide oversight and embed our banking culture across the U.S.,” said Santander Group executive chairman Ana Botín in a statement.
The appointment comes at the heels of a Wall Street Journal report last week suggesting Banco Santander would likely fail the Federal Reserve’s stress test for their U.S. operations this year. The bank has been scrutinized for its practices measuring risk and it would be the second consecutive time the Madrid-based financial institution’s U.S. unit failed.
If it fails the test, Banco Santander would likely be restricted from paying dividends to their European parents, or other shareholders, without permission from the Fed, according to the WSJ.
Santander Holdings non-executive chairman T. Timothy Ryan Jr. lauded Powell’s appointment in a statement.
“Scott’s appointment is an important step toward our goal of strengthening Santander Holdings USA to manage our U.S. businesses. This will include bringing all the U.S. units together within SHUSA by the middle of the year,” Ryan said.
Currently, Santander Holdings owns 100 percent of Santander Bank and 60.5 percent of Dallas-based Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., which specializes in consumer and auto loans and went public last year.

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