A Spanish banking group serving individuals, businesses, and institutions through retail and commercial banking, with brands including Santander, Openbank, and Santander Consumer Finance across Europe and the Americas. Founded in 1857 in the port city of Santander on Spain's northern coast, the bank took its name from that city, where it began as a local lender before growing into one of the world's largest banks. Its flame logo, introduced in the 1980s, is now recognized in dozens of countries.
Banco Santander completes €5.03bn buyback, cutting share capital by 3.08%
Banco Santander completed its buy-back programme after spending the maximum €5,030 million to acquire 462,683,139 own shares, about 3.08% of share capital.
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The programme was terminated as planned; the shares will be cancelled to reduce share capital by €231,341,569.50, leaving capital at €7,278,241,400.50 across 14,556,482,801 shares.
The capital reduction was approved by shareholders on 27 March 2026 and authorised by the ECB on 2 February 2026; it aims to boost earnings per share without returning contributions.
A reserve for amortised capital equal to the nominal value of cancelled shares will be created from the share premium reserve, and creditor objection rights are waived under Spanish law.
Since 2021, completed buybacks have reduced share capital by €1,557,002,469.50, repurchasing 3,114,004,939 shares (~18% of outstanding shares).
Banco Santander completes Webster Financial acquisition and executes EUR 3.56B capital increase
The capital increase through non-cash contributions was executed, issuing 329,846,438 new shares at an issue price of EUR 10.7896 per share.
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Banco Santander completed the acquisition of Webster Financial Corporation on August 20, 2026, on previously announced terms.
The total effective amount of the capital increase is EUR 3,558,911,127.4448, with a nominal value of EUR 164,923,219 and share premium of EUR 3,393,987,908.4448.
All new shares were fully subscribed and paid up, representing approximately 2.2455% of share capital before the increase and 2.1962% after.
Post-completion, Banco Santander's share capital is EUR 7,509,582,970, represented by 15,019,165,940 shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.50 each.
Banco Santander's board approved a share repurchase programme of approximately €1.825 billion, equivalent to about 25% of the Group's underlying profit for H1 2026.
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The buyback aims to reduce share capital by redeeming acquired shares, with a maximum of 1,468,931,950 shares (about 1.026% of share capital at an assumed average price of €12.10).
The programme is expected to start on 24 August 2026, after the current Goldman Sachs International buyback completes, and run for an indicative 98 trading days until around 8 January 2027.
Shares will be bought at market price on Spanish and European trading venues, with daily volume limited to 25% of the 20-day average and price capped at the higher of last independent trade or highest bid.
The programme may be suspended during the acceptance period of the exchange offer for Banco Santander (Brasil) shares, and the interim cash dividend decision is expected on 29 September 2026.
Banco Santander receives final U.S. Federal Reserve approval to complete Webster acquisition
The acquisition had previously received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on 12 June 2026 and the European Central Bank on 21 July 2026.
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Banco Santander obtained approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on 4 August 2026 to complete its acquisition of Webster Financial Corporation.
Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur on 20 August 2026.
The acquisition was originally announced in an inside information notice dated 3 February 2026 and further detailed in a notice dated 23 April 2026.