#PowerWomen is part of an ongoing column for the WiB blog where we learn more about some of the World's most powerful women and how they are changing the world.
When Ana Patricia Botin took the position as the Executive Chairman of Santander Group in 2014, she was the first woman to chair a global financial organization and one of only six women to lead a Fortune Global 100 company.
"It would not be a stretch to suggest that Ana BotÃn, Executive Chairman of Santander Group, is the most powerful woman in banking." - World Finance
Before taking over Santander Group, the most notable achievement of Botin was her turnaround of Santander UK arm. At the time, the bank was suffering from both tightened regulation and a tough economic climate, and customer complaints were flooding in. It was also named as the "worst-performing UK bank" for three years in a row.
When she took the reins in 2010, she reformed the bank’s management by focusing on building strong relationships with retail customers and developing programs to support SMEs, Mid-Size Corporations. However, it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. In the first few years, the plan actually brought further problems with profits tumbling 40% in 2011, which caused an anticipated £20bn ($26bn) IPO to be halted in response. BotÃn’s plan to purchase 316 Royal Bank of Scotland branches, which had been fraught with delays, fell through, in the following year.
With the "Breakthrough program", a $392m capital fund to help small firms develop into medium-sized enterprises, Santander's books are rebalanced and achieved growth of 80% a tear for four years in corporate business. By the time she left in 2014, Botin has transformed the struggling UK arm into a profitable, well-managed business with 860 branches, 20,000 staff, and 14 million customers.
When Botin succeeded her father Emilio, as the Executive Chairman of Santander Group, she didn’t hesitate to bring about changes to the organization. BotÃn has continued to show an ongoing commitment to technology and the development of SMEs, with a dedicated fintech fund – Santander InnoVentures – launched in 2014. The $100m funds was increased to $200m in 2016 and now has 15 firms under its belt, including several blockchain start-ups and new additions focused on analyzing consumer behavior.
Up till now, Botin continues to be a leading and active voice in the industry with her interest in social responsibility activities and her support for entrepreneurs. She has recently made headlines with her efforts in ESG by pledging Banco Santander Group to support the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, including client emissions resulting from its financing, advisory, or investment services.
As the economy paves its way to recovery, we will definitely hear more from Botin as she continues to be an influential figure in the banking and finance industry. And we can't wait to see what other initiatives she is going to achieve.
Are there any other #PowerWomen you want us to cover in future articles? Let us know in the comments!
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