The boss at Santander, the Eurozone’s largest bank by market value, leads our international list after two years atop
Coins2Day’ s Europe, Middle East and Africa ranking. In 2015, Botin steered her organization—
No. 74 on the Global 500—through volatile times, and even eked out a small growth in profit when measured in local currency. But, as was the case for most in international finance, it’s been a tough year: Santander’s market value has slid 30% since August 2015, in part because of concerns around the bank’s second largest market—recession-stricken Brazil. In Spain, Santander’s slow-growing home market, the company announced it will shutter hundreds of branches. Meanwhile, in the U.S, it failed its “stress test” for the third year in a row, and in the UK—its largest market (and where Botin was awarded honorary damehood last year)—consequences of the Brexit vote loom.