Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 284

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 284
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 the Group Executive Chair’s succession and appointment in coordination with the nomination committee.

• The audit committee is chaired by an independent director who is considered a ‘financial expert’ as defined in Regulation S-K of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• The audit; nomination; responsible banking, sustainability and culture; remuneration; risk supervision, regulation and compliance; and innovation and technology committees are chaired by, and have a majority of, independent directors. The first three committees are also composed entirely of independent directors.

• The Executive Chair may not simultaneously act as Banco Santander’s Chief Executive Officer.

• The corporate Risk, Compliance and Internal Audit functions report as independent units to a committee or a member of the board of directors and have direct, unfettered access to the board.

Annual report 2024 271

| Contents |     | Business model and strategy |     | Sustainability statement |     | Corporate governance |     | Economic and financial review |     | Riskmanagement and compliance |

#### Lead Independent Director
Our Lead Independent Director is Glenn Hutchins. The Lead Independent Director is key to our corporate governance arrangements. He is responsible for the effective coordination of the non-executive directors and makes sure they serve as an appropriate counter-balance to the executive directors.

The following chart shows the Lead Independent Director's functions and activities in 2024. He provides a detailed report to the nomination committee and board of directors on his activities and the discharge of his duties on an annual basis.

| Duties of the Lead Independent Director and activities during 2024                                                                                                                                                                        |     |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| Duties                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |     | Activities in 2024                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Facilitate discussion and open dialogue among independent directors, holding private meetings of non-executive directors without the executive directors present and proactively engaging with them to consider their views and opinions. |     | Held six meetings with non-executive directors where they were able to voice their views and opinions. These meetings provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on the overall board and committee cycle throughout the year, to discuss board training topics, strategy execution, executive director and top management performance and objectives (including the CEO performance assessment given his reporting line to the board), and reflections on areas of continuous improvement. 
 The non-executive directors held a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer without the Executive Chair present (and vice versa), in recognition of their direct reporting line to the board.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Direct the periodic evaluation of the Chair of the board of directors and