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EU Aid Deal Paves Way For Cross-Border Mergers, Says Santander Chairman

By  |  July 22, 2020

The European leaders’ agreement on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus battered economies should help kick-start cross-border consolidation in Europe and complete the European banking union, Santander Chairman Ana Botin said.

“What was agreed yesterday (in the early hours of Tuesday) means the opportunity and the probability that we do get a banking union and cross-border consolidation is much higher,” Botin told Reuters. 

“It will require changes, but I think those changes are much more likely today than they were yesterday,” Botin said. 

Santander is the Euro zone’s second-biggest lender in terms of market value. 

Remarks by Botin echoed comments from European Central Bank vice-president Luis de Guindos, who on Monday, July 20, said that he expected banks to engage in both national and cross-border consolidation within weeks or months.

Full Content: Reuters

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