Ana Patricia Botin has been named chairman of Banco Santander, Spain's largest bank, following the death of her father, Emilio.
The bank said on Wednesday Ms Botin was "the most appropriate person, given her personal and professional qualities, experience, track record in the group and her unanimous recognition both in Spain and internationally."
Ms Botin, who has headed Santander UK for the past four years, had long been seen as her father's heir and successor at the helm of the Santander group. She is the fourth generation of the family to take over the institution, which has been run by the dynasty for 105 years.
""In these difficult times for me and my family, I appreciate the trust of the board of directors and I am fully committed to my new responsibilities," she said.
Emilio Botin, 79, who died of a heart attack on Tuesday night, oversaw the rise of his family's bank, Grupo Santander, from a provincial lender in northern Spain to become the biggest by value in the eurozone through a series of acquisitions. Known as "el presidente" by colleagues and family members, he was considered one of the most powerful unelected people in Spain.
In 1993, Santander absorbed Bank Banesto and six years later merged with Banco Central Hispano to create Santander Central Hispano. In 2004, BSCH acquired Abbey National, the British bank, to become the second largest in Europe by market capitalisation.
The family banking empire extends over more than 10 countries and Botin's personal fortune has been estimated by Forbes at more than $1bn.
Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said Botin was "a great ambassador for 'Brand Spain'".
"The bank that Mr Botin presided over is the most important in our country, and I am confident that after his death things will be resolved in the best possible way and the bank will continue that way."
<
The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.
> Francisco Gonzalez, executive chairman of BBVA, Santander's main rival, told local media: "On behalf of BBVA I want to convey our condolences on the death of Emilio Botin. We lament his loss and we join the grief of his family and the Santander Group at this time."Ron Dennis, chief executive of the McLaren Group, which runs the Formula One motor racing team that Santander has sponsored since 2007, said he was "shocked and saddened" to hear of Botin's passing.
"Emilio was a consummate businessman, who made Santander what it is today. Passionate and charming, he was firm but always fair. I feel privileged to have known him, and proud to be able to call him a friend," he said.
Botin was very much a hands-on chairman, often scrutinising individual loans, despite the institution being 98 per cent owned by outside investors.
< > His grandfather was chairman of Santander from 1909 and his father, took over in 1950. Botin joined the family company in 1958 and learnt the business from the bottom up.
Analysts say one of his key moments came in the late 1970s when he helped Santander survive a banking crisis that cost the country 57 banks.
Botin was close to many politicians, particularly the former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who in late 2011 pardoned Alfredo Saenz, Botin's chief executive, after a criminal conviction that would have seen him barred from banking for three months.
Botin survived the latest financial crisis although in 2013 the bank cut his pay and those of other senior executives by more than a third as the bank's earnings fell sharply and the share price remained below half its pre-crisis high.
Additional reporting by Claer Barrett and Pedro Das Gupta
© The Financial Times Limited 2014. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation