Economics

Santander Hires UBS’s Andrea Orcel as CEO; Swiss Lender Promotes Execs

UBS names Novelli, Karofsky as investment bank co-presidents
Orcel had worked with Santander’s late chairman Emilio Botin

Banco Santander names Andrea Orcel its new chief executive officer. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Jonathan Tyce reports.Markets: European Close." (Source: Bloomberg)

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By Patrick Winters, Donal Griffin, Sonali Basak, and Charlie Devereux

September 25, 2018 at 3:43 PM UTC

Updated on

September 25, 2018 at 6:29 PM UTC

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Banco Santander SA, in a surprise move, appointed UBS Group AG investment bank head Andrea Orcel as its new chief executive officer, a decision that reshapes the leadership of two of Europe’s biggest lenders.

Switzerland’s largest bank is filling the vacuum by promoting ex-global mergers and acquisitions head Piero Novelli and equities chief Robert Karofsky to replace Orcel as co-heads of the investment bank. At Santander, Jose Antonio Alvarez will stay on as chairman of Santander Spain and becomes vice chairman of Banco Santander.