Banco Santander Central Hispano

The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 . In the Roman Empire, the city was known as Portus Victoriae... Iuliobrigensium. Its present name is possibly derived from Saint Andrew or Saint Emeterio , a martyr whose head was brought there in the 3rd century, along with that of Saint Celedonio, according to legend. In 1187, King Alfonso VIII of Castile made the abbot of San Emeterio lord of the town, and in 1248 Santander participated in the battle for Seville, receiving a coat of arms as reward. The city owes its existence to the excellent harbour of the Bay of Santander. Santander was an important port for Castile in the later Middle Ages, and also for trade with the New World. It officially became a city in 1755. In 1893 the freighter Cabo Machichaco exploded in the harbour, killing 500 people.
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The Santander Group is a Spanish banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A. , the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2010, it is the 6th largest company in the world. It originated in Santander, Cantabria, Spain. The 1999 merger of Banco Santander and Banco Central Hispano following the merger of Banco Central [est. 1919] and Banco... Hispanoamericano [est. 1900], created Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH.. This merger between Santander and Banco Central Hispano was designed to be a "merger of equals" in which the top executives of the two pre-existing firms would share control of the merged entity. Soon after the merger former BCH executives accused chairman of Banco Santander Emilio Botín of trying to push his own agenda and threatened to take legal action against him. This post-merger squabbling was resolved when BCH executives Jose Amusátegui and Angel Corcóstegui agreed to accept severance payments, retire and relinquish control to Mr.
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