Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 286

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 286
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culture committee |     | Innovation andtechnology committee |
| Support and proposal in strategic areas |     |                                                          |     |                                    |

A. Required by law, the Bylaws or the Rules and regulations of the board.

Secretary of the board

Jaime Pérez Renovales is the secretary of the board. He assists the chair and ensures the formal and substantial legality of all the board’s actions. He also makes sure that good governance recommendations and procedures are observed and remain under continuous review.

The secretary of the board is also the General Counsel of Banco Santander. He acts as the secretary of all board committees and facilitates a fluid and effective relationship between the committees and the Group's units that must collaborate with them.

The appointment of the secretary of the board is a matter for the board to approve, taking into account the prior opinion of the nomination committee. The secretary does not need to be a director.

The board has two vice secretaries, F. Javier Illescas Fernández-Bermejo (Group Head of Legal) and Adolfo Díaz-Ambrona Moreno (General Counsel of Santander España). They assist the secretary with his duties on the board and its committees, and replace him in the event of absence, inability to act or illness.

Board operation

The board of directors held 18 meetings (14 ordinary and four extraordinary) in 2024. The Rules and regulations of the board dictate that it must hold at least nine annual ordinary meetings and one quarterly meeting.

Though board meetings follow a calendar approved annually and a provisional agenda of items to discuss among the matters that fall under its remit, new items can be added and additional meetings can be called. Directors may also propose items to be added to the agenda and are duly informed of changes to the calendar and meeting agendas.

To help directors prepare effectively for each meeting, they are given relevant documents sufficiently in advance and in a secure

electronic format. In the board’s opinion, these documents are appropriately detailed and received in good time which enables members to make appropriate decisions.

The Rules and regulations of the board of directors also expressly acknowledge directors’ rights to request and obtain information on anything related to Banco Santander and its domestic and foreign subsidiaries. They also acknowledge their right to inspect the books, files, documents and any other records of corporate transactions, in addition to premises and facilities. Furthermore, directors can request and obtain any information and advice they deem necessary from the secretary in order to perform their duties.

Additionally, the board meets at the Chair’s discretion or at