Fortune Magazine did a great job profiling Banco Santander (STD) Chairman Emilio Botin who has built a family run Spanish regional bank into the largest European bank by market capitalization. I really appreciate his philosophy of buying banks with an international presence during a period of turmoil, and then helping them recover through incorporating his own management team. STD has been badly hurt by their exposure to the Spanish housing market which is in horrible condition, but they are a well run organization that should come out quite strong when Europe does eventually recover.
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/23/banco-santander-emilio-botin/?iid=SF_F_Lead
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