Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 232

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 232
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 of topics of common interest and best practices between the Group and its subsidiaries.

The Chairs of the Group audit committee and risk supervision, regulation and compliance committee also organised several virtual meetings with their local counterparts, which enriched the communication among them and allowed them to share priorities and common matters of interest. Therefore, this practice will continue going forward.

Finally, in 2024 we also held an audit committee Chairs convention at our headquarters in Boadilla del Monte. The aim was to foster further collaboration between the Group and its subsidiaries, raise awareness about global initiatives and expectations, collectively discuss topical issues and encourage networking. As in previous occasions, the event was both successful and productive, with universal positive feedback received from participants.

Coordinated induction and training plans

We continued to share our training, induction and development methodology and associated content with the subsidiaries to promote best practices and drive a consistent approach on a group-wide basis. In 2024 we scheduled training sessions for subsidiary board members with local directors covering the consolidation of all our activities across our footprint under five global businesses. See 'Director training and induction programmes' in section 4.3.

Group and subsidiary board visits

Every year at least one board session is held in one of the Group's key geographies. As part of these visits, directors meet top management in the unit in order to better understand the country business. In 2024, the board of directors met in São Paulo, Brazil, where we also organised branch visits and meetings with senior management and clients. In addition, directors met with top talent in the region as part of our proactive approach to talent management.

Furthermore, subsidiary boards are encouraged to hold their board meetings at our corporate centre in Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, or in Santander, Cantabria, to foster further collaboration and engagement with the corporate teams. In 2024, the boards of Santander Bank Polska, Santander UK and Santander Brazil held specific meetings at our corporate centre, while Santander Mexico held a board meeting in Santander, Cantabria. The above mentioned practices will continue in 2025 and beyond.

1.3 Remuneration policy

Santander's remuneration policy has traditionally received strong support from our investors. At our 2024 AGM, shareholders approved the policy with 74.82% votes in favour. As this percentage is lower than in other years, our board of directors engaged with our top shareholders and with major proxy advisory firms to ensure that our remuneration policy continues to align

with their