Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 973

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 973
---
 any acquisition or venture could result in inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies. Moreover, the success of any acquisition or venture will, at least in part, be subject to a number of political, economic and other factors that are beyond our control. Any of these factors, individually or collectively, could have a material adverse effect on us.

The challenges that may arise from our decisions include:

• managing efficiently the operations and employees of expanding businesses;

• maintaining or growing our existing customer base;

• assessing the value, strengths and weaknesses of investment or acquisition candidates, including local regulation that can reduce or eliminate expected synergies;

• financing strategic investments or acquisitions;

• aligning our current information technology systems adequately with those of an enlarged group;

• applying our risk management policy effectively to an enlarged group;

• managing a growing number of entities without over-committing management or losing key personnel; and

• meeting the expectations of regulators and our clients, shareholders and other stakeholders.

| 910 |

| Contents |     | Cross-reference to Form 20-F |     | Consolidated director's report |     | Consolidated financial statements |     | Supplemental information |

Furthermore, there is no assurance that the changes to our operating model that became effective on 1 January 2024, which included the reorganization of our primary and secondary segments, will yield all of the expected benefits in the timeframes that we expect.

Any failure to manage growth effectively, an inability to successfully adapt to changing conditions or to execute successfully any of our strategic actions, or any changes in our business practices, operational framework, strategic objectives, corporate priorities, internal policies and procedural guidelines could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition and prospects.

2.7 Risk management

2.7.1 Failure to successfully implement and continue to improve our risk management policies, procedures and methods, including our credit risk management systems, could materially and adversely affect us, and we may be exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risks.

Risk management is a central part of our activities. We seek to manage and control our risk exposure through a forward-looking management model, based on robust governance and advanced risk management tools, supported by a risk culture that permeates the organization. While our management model uses a broad and diversified set of risk monitoring, control and mitigation techniques, such management model may not be fully effective at mitigating our risk exposure in all economic market environments or against all types of risk, including risks that we may fail to identify or anticipate.

Some of our tools and metrics for managing risk