Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 912

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 912
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 Russian military action against Ukraine, several countries, including the US, the EU member states, the UK and other UN member states, have imposed severe sanctions on Russia and Belarus, including freezing/blocking assets, targeting major Russian banks, the Russian Central Bank, and certain Russian companies and individuals, imposing trade restrictions against Russia and Russian interests, as well as the disconnection of certain Russian banks from the SWIFT system (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). In addition, the sanctions imposed also include a ban on trading in sovereign debt and other securities. The scale of sanctions is unprecedented, complex and rapidly evolving, and poses continuously increasing operational risk to the Group. Our corporate framework and policies are designed to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and economic sanctions in the countries in which we operate, including US, UK, EU and UN economic sanctions. We cannot predict whether any of the countries in which we operate will enact additional economic sanctions or trade restrictions in response to the Russian military action against Ukraine. While we do not knowingly engage in direct or indirect dealings with sanctioned parties according to applicable sanctions, or in direct dealings with the sanctioned countries/territories, we may on occasion have indirect dealings within the sanctioned countries/territories, but aim to operate in line with applicable US, EU, UK and UN blocking and sectoral sanctions regulations.

Furthermore, the risk of cyberattacks on companies and institutions has increased and could increase even further as a result of the wars. Although we actively monitor for cyberattacks, there can be no assurance that our cybersecurity and data protection measures and defences will be effective at identifying, preventing, mitigating or remediating any such cyberattacks.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel targeting Israeli civilians. In response, Israel declared war against Hamas, attacking Hamas targets in Gaza and the region. In 2024, in response to attacks from Lebanon and Iran, Israel attacked Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and leaders and carried out airstrikes against Iranian military sites. The war, a further escalation of the conflict and any resulting conflicts in the region could exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis and could lead to higher oil and gas prices, the imposition of sanctions, travel and import/export restrictions, further disruptions in supply chains, inflationary pressures and market volatility, among other potential consequences.

We do not have a physical presence in Russia and Ukraine and our physical presence in the Middle East is very limited. Further,

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