Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 1031

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 1031
---
 elements of the comprehensive US regulatory framework applicable to us or our US operations. This discussion is not intended to describe all laws and regulations applicable to Santander Holdings USA and its subsidiaries or to our US operations in general.

Regulatory authorities

We are a financial holding company and a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act, by virtue of our ownership of Santander Bank and other activities conducted by our US operations. As a result, we and our US operations are subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the Federal Reserve System, including both the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks, such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the 'FRB New York') and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (‘FRB Boston’).

Santander Holdings USA is subject to primary supervision, regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve System, which serves as the consolidated supervisor of our US operations. The primary regulators of our US non-bank subsidiaries directly regulate the activities of those subsidiaries, with the Federal Reserve exercising a supervisory role. Such non-bank subsidiaries include, for example, broker-dealers registered with the SEC and investment advisers registered with the SEC.

Our IHC and Enhanced Prudential Standards

The Federal Reserve Board has imposed greater risk-based and leverage capital requirements, liquidity requirements, risk management and governance requirements, capital planning and stress testing requirements, risk management requirements and other enhanced prudential standards for bank holding companies that exceed certain asset thresholds. Santander Holdings USA is classified as a Category IV IHC and is subject to the enhanced prudential standards and capital and liquidity requirements applicable to these organizations.

Our US Depository Institution

Santander Bank is a national banking association chartered under the laws of the United States. As a national bank, the activities of Santander Bank are limited to those specifically authorized under the National Bank Act and related OCC regulations and interpretations. Santander Bank is subject to comprehensive primary supervision, regulation and examination by the OCC. As an insured depository institution, Santander Bank is also subject to regulation and examination by the FDIC.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA) provides for extensive regulation of depository institutions (such as Santander Bank), including requiring federal banking regulators to take 'prompt corrective action' with respect to FDIC-insured depository institutions that do not meet minimum capital requirements. For this purpose, FDICIA establishes five capitalization categories: 'well capitalized,' 'adequately capitalized,' 'undercapitalized,' 'significantly

undercapital