(Reuters) -The UK arm of Spain’s Banco Santander is lining up Tom Scholar, the former permanent secretary to the Treasury, as the company’s next chairman, Sky News reported on Saturday citing insiders.
The company’s board chair William Vereker announced his intention to step down in late January this year.
Santander UK did not confirm if Scholar was lined up to be the next chairman, saying that it is “conducting a thorough appointment process” and that the new chair would be announced once the process was completed.
Vereker’s resignation came at a time when Santander UK is booking subpar profitability compared to the bank’s overall returns amid market concerns about the higher costs of business borne by banks in Britain compared to other countries.
Santander, which first entered the British market in 2004 when it bought Abbey National, said in March it would close 95 of its 444 branches in June, affecting 750 jobs.
(Reporting by Kritika Singh in BengaluruEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
