The recent announcement by Santander that the Mexican Hector Grisi will be its CEO from January, replacing Jose Antonio Alvarez has marked a new step in the unstoppable process of renewal in the command posts of the Spanish banking system that began in the last financial crisis. Only five of the presidents or CEOs of the ten large entities (those directly supervised by the European Central Bank) maintain a position equivalent to that of 2008, while another 21 have left the front line.
Solo Josep Oliú y Peter Warrior They continue to chair Sabadell and Bankinter, positions they have held since 1999 and 2007. Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri He has gone from CEO of BBVA to chair CaixaBank, after carrying out the same work in between at Bankia, today integrated into the Catalan bank.
Another of the five survivors is Manuel Menendez, CEO of Unicaja Banco and then president of Cajastur, which gave rise to Liberbank and which was integrated into the Malaga entity last year. The player completes it Manuel YebraCEO of Cajamar from Almeria 14 years ago and now CEO of its parent company, Banco de Crédito Cooperativo.
Although they no longer deal directly with the management of their banks (at that time the savings banks they presided over), the heads of the banking foundations of La Caixa also continue to occupy relevant positions, Isidre Fainéand Ibercaja, beloved frankas main shareholders of CaixaBank and Ibercaja Banco. Fainéin addition, president of the CECA employers’ association.
A third member of this group, Braulio Medelwas forced to resign a few days ago from the foundation of Unicaja due to political and supervisory pressure and in the midst of a war for power in Unicaja Banco, delving into the renovation.
illustrious departures
Thus, two of the three great bankers of 2008 have emerged from the front line: the late Emilio Botin (Chairman of Santander between 1986 and 2014) and Francis Gonzalez (President of BBVA from 2000 to 2018, before Argentaria by appointment of the Government of Aznarand today indicted for the ‘Villarejo’ case).
The same has happened, in the second step, with Alfredo Saenz (CEO of Santander between 2002 and 2013, a position he had to leave after being convicted of false accusation, and previously a senior position at BBV and Banesto); Juan Maria Nin (CEO of La Caixa between 2007 and 2014 and previously senior executive of Santander and Sabadell); Y Jaume Guardiola (CEO of Sabadell from 2007 to 2020, former position of BBVA and candidate to chair the Cercle d’Economia).
The renovation of the domes has also affected the then CEO of Bankinter, the former president of Sareb and Barclays Spain Jaime Echegoyen. The same has happened with the presidents of the then two Galician savings banks, today integrated into Abanca (the deceased Mauro Varela y Julio Fernandez Gayoso, who went to jail for granting himself a million-dollar compensation); of the then three Basque savings banks, today KutxaBank (Xabier de Irala, Xabier Iturbe y Red Gregory); and from Cajamar (Antonio Perez Lao).
internal rebalancing
At the same time, there has been a substantial internal rebalancing of powers in the entities. The presidents are still the central figure of most banks, but their past omnipotence is gradually being diluted in favor of CEOs at the behest of the ECB.
The latest example was Santander’s decision a few months ago, endorsed by the supervisor, that its CEO report directly to the board of directors and not to the president, Ana Botin. It was a step prior to the appointment of Greece with the aim that the ECB did not take advantage of the relief to promote a new distribution of powers.
ankle boot remains as the most powerful CEO. The banker, the fourth member of her family to preside over Santander, wanted to break since she accepted the position in 2014 with the legacy of her father and she dispensed with almost all of her collaborators. One of the few that she was saved from was Álvarezwhom he promoted from CFO to CEO.
The Leonese banker came out reinforced after the frustrated traumatic signing of the Italian Andrea Orcel in 2019: Álvarez He agreed to continue as number two, despite the fact that his replacement had already been announced. A few months ago he announced internally his intention to leave the post and the bank has chosen Greeceresponsible for the business in North America, ahead of the Portuguese Antonio Simõesits counterpart in Europe, and -according to El Confidencial- Gonzalo GortázarCEO of CaixaBank since 2014.
The Mexican outlined his plan this week: “We are changing very quickly to go from an organization that was more focused on the product and the branch network to an omnichannel organization focused on the customer. And we have to go faster.” Financial sources highlight that his name was imposed due to his greater knowledge of the bank (he joined in 2015), his experience in both the retail business and investment and corporate banking, and his character, similar to that of Álvarez and compatible with ankle boot.
change of profiles
In the second Spanish bank by international presence, BBVA, the presidency has been held since 2018 Carlos Torres-Vila. This is a different profile from the traditional one of Spanish bankers, although it is becoming more and more common, since he started his career in a consulting firm (McKinsey) and then passed Endesa. At the request of the ECB, he had to cede powers to the CEO, the Turkish Onur Younganother foreign executive and boosted by internal promotion (such as Greece) and from McKinsey.
For his part, at CaixaBank the presidency is held by Goirigolzarrialbeit with limited powers. The chief executive is Gortázarwhom Fainé has been promoting since La Caixa bought the private banking business of Morgan Stanley, where he worked.
In Sabadell, Oil also handed over its executive powers at the beginning of 2021 to the new CEO, César González-Buenoresponsible for the successful launch of ING in Spain.
In the fifth entity by assets, Unicaja Banco, the veteran president Manuel Azuaga It will also cede its executive powers to the CEO in principle in 2023, a position that will have to be seen if it continues to hold Manuel Menendezwhom the defenestrated supported Average.
Slightly smaller is Bankinter, where since 2010 she has been the chief executive Maria Dolores Dancausaraised to the position of CEO by the first shareholder –Jaime Botin– from its subsidiary Línea Directa.
Related news
The presidency of Abanca, on the other hand, is occupied by the Venezuelan Juan Carlos Escotetwhich bought the merger of the old Galician savings banks from the State in 2013, although the chief executive is Francis Bootswho previously held the same position at Banco Etcheverría, today integrated into Abanca.
At Kutxabank, the former director of BBVA Gregorio Villabeitia will leave the presidency in the fall, a relief that the supervisors want to take advantage of to rebalance the organization chart in favor of the post of CEO, currently occupied by Javier Garcia Luruena. At Ibercaja, the chief executive is already Victor Iglesias. In BCC, finally, Luis Rodriguez Gonzalez accompanies as president the aforementioned Manuel Yebra.