After Orcel, Now Santander Makes a U-Turn on Scrip Dividends

  • Bank wants option for share payout a year after scrapping idea
  • Santander has one of lowest core capital levels in Europe
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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First it was Andrea Orcel, now it’s the all cash dividend: U-turns are becoming a habit for Banco Santander SA.

The Spanish bank wants to preserve the option to use a scrip dividend a year after saying it planned to start rewarding shareholders entirely in cash. That followed a shock reversal in January on the hiring of star investment banker Orcel as the lender’s chief executive officer.