SANTANDER CORPORATE PROFILE

Santander is one of the major financial entities in the world by market capitalisation, with a strong presence in Latin America and Europe. It has over 129,000 employees, 66 million customers and 2.4 million shareholders. In 2005, the group attained its largest profit ever, 6,220 million euros, 72.5% more than in 2004; Santander shares have risen by 22.12% this year.

The Santander business model is based on a thorough local presence in the countries in which it operates, together with its capacity to act as an integrated bank, with business that is managed globally and common corporate policies that allow synergies and competitive advantages to be applied on an international scale.

Santander’s business model is based on five foundations: service quality, efficiency, credit quality, capital discipline and global vision.

The group structures its business areas at two levels: The main one is geographic and the secondary level is types of business. The main geographical regions are Continental Europe, United Kingdom, and Latin America (mainly Brazil, Mexico and Chile), and the main types of business are retail banking, asset management & insurance, and global wholesale banking.

Santander is committed to the development of all the countries where it operates. With the conviction that education is the best way of contributing to social progress, it maintains a unique alliance with a thousand universities in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, via Santander Universidades and Universia, a global program supporting Higher Education, for which 66 million euros was allocated in 2005.

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