Banco Santander has appointed Ignacio Juliá as chief executive officer of Santander Spain, effective 1 October 2024, after receiving the necessary regulatory approval for the role. Juliá replaces Ángel Rivera, who has departed the position. Santander publicly announced the appointment on 6 September 2024.
He joins from ING, where he served as chief executive for the bank's Spanish and Portuguese operations, overseeing a predominantly digital retail banking business.
JULIÁ'S BACKGROUND IN DIGITAL RETAIL BANKING
During his time leading ING in Spain and Portugal, Juliá oversaw a banking model built around online and mobile channels, with a limited branch footprint compared with traditional high-street lenders.
Santander Spain, by contrast, operates a physical branch network alongside its digital channels, serving retail customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and larger corporate clients. Santander said the appointment would help accelerate the transformation of its business model to serve customers better while generating more growth and efficiency.
REGULATORY APPROVAL AND TRANSITION
The European Central Bank, which directly supervises Santander as a significant institution under the Single Supervisory Mechanism, along with the Bank of Spain, must assess senior appointments for fitness and propriety before they become effective. Santander's announcement in early September said Juliá would replace Rivera from 1 October, once all regulatory approvals had been obtained.
Santander said Rivera would begin a new professional stage in business and would remain at the bank until the end of the year to support the transition.