Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH) has decided to terminate the business operations of Santander Global Advisors and transferred all the international management responsibilities to the bank’s asset management unit in Madrid, closer to its retail banking activities.
The decision comes as a result of a more centralised approach of the bank’s new management following last year’s merger between Banco Santander and Banco Central Hispano.
BSCH said that this decision is not a reflection on the success of Santander Global Advisors, with offices in London and Boston and $1.5bn in assets, but the result of a reviewed strategy in international asset management.
A spokeperson for the bank in Madrid said: “We’ll carry on doing business in the same direction, offering the same kind of products, but centralised from our asset management unit in Madrid.”
In Portugal, Banco Espírito Santo and Banco Portugues de Investimento have agreed to a merger which will result in the creation of the biggest Portuguese financial group . The new group, BES.BIP, will be created by the end of next month.