Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 283

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 283
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 •The Chair is responsible for the long-term strategy of the Group, including new tech and digital growth engines, namely PagoNxt and the Digital Consumer Bank.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
 •The Chair is also responsible for other corporate functions and units that help drive the Group's long-term strategy and transformation, comprising Technology and Data & Architecture, People & Culture, Financial Accounting & Control, Strategy and Corporate Development, General Secretariat and Communications & Corporate Marketing. This reflects the Chair's ultimate accountability for Transformation. 
 •The Chair also leads the appointment and succession planning of Grupo Santander senior management, to be submitted to the nomination committee and board for approval.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |     | •The Chief Executive Officer is entrusted with the day-to-day management of the business with the highest executive functions and reports exclusively to the board.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 •Accordingly, the Chief Executive Officer’s direct reports are the senior managers in charge of the business units: the local CEO / Country Heads and those in charge of the global businesses (Wealth Management & Insurance, Corporate & Investment Banking, Payments and Retail & Commercial Banking (including TransformationA)), encompassing the relevant support and control functions. Whilst the Chair is accountable for Digital Consumer Bank, given that it is a global business, the Group CEO remains fully accountable for the Countries through which Digital Consumer Bank operates. 
 •As responsible for day-to-day management, the CFO also reports to the Chief Executive Officer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 •Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer is responsible for Regulatory & Supervisory Relations and for embedding the Group's sustainability policy in the day-to-day management of Group businesses and the support and control functions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |

A. Whilst Retail & Commercial Banking reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer (with no functional line to the Executive Chair), ultimate accountability for Transformation remains with the Executive Chair.

The duties of the Executive Chair, the Chief Executive Officer, the board, and its committees are clearly separated. Various checks and balances give Grupo Santander’s corporate governance structure the appropriate equilibrium. In particular:

• The board and its committees supervise both the Executive Chair and the Chief Executive Officer. Both the Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer report directly to the board of directors.

• The board has delegated all its powers to the Executive Chair and the Chief Executive Officer, except for those that cannot be delegated by law and under the Bylaws and the Rules and regulations of the board. The board directly exercises those powers to perform its general supervisory function.

• The Lead Independent Director leads