Board of directors

The board of director’s balanced qualitative and quantitative composition (PDF 321 Kb) is essential for it to perform its duties with a unity of purpose and independent judgement, have proper representation and operate effectively. The board of directors, in exercising its powers of proposal to the general shareholders’ meeting and of co-option for filling vacancies, aims to ensure that, in its composition, external directors represent a broad majority over executive directors, and that, among these, the number of independent directors represents at least a third of all directors. The board of directors must ensure that the procedures for selection of members guarantee the individual and collective expertise of directors, encourage diversity in terms of gender, experience and knowledge, and do not carry any implicit bias that might entail any form of discrimination. In particular, the selection of female directors is to be supported. All directors should act with the common purpose of protecting the interest of the company.

For further information on the category of the Bank’s directors, please consult the Annual Corporate Governance Report. You may also access the public records of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (or “CNMV’’) on the Bank’s shares held by directors as well as the options over these shares.

A brief professional and biographical profile of the directors is included below, with the date of their first appointment and, when appropriate, their subsequent reappointments.

Executive Chairman

Ms Ana Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y O'Shea

Vice Chairman and CEO

Mr José Antonio Álvarez Álvarez

Vice Chairman and Lead independent director

Mr Bruce Carnegie-Brown

Members

Ms Homaira Akbari

Mr Javier Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y O'Shea

Mr Álvaro Antonio Cardoso de Souza

Ms Sol Daurella Comadrán

Mr Henrique de Castro