Santander APAC Finance Head Gonzalo Garrigues Reportedly Leaves Role

Banco Santander S.A., a Spanish financial services company based in Madrid, is reportedly losing its finance head in its business in the Asia Pacific region. The lender's corporate finance chief, Gonzalo Garrigues, has left his post, according to insiders who have knowledge of the matter.

As per Bloomberg, Garrigues has already vacated his role in Santander's Hong Kong office. He has been based in the Asian financial center of the company since 2019. As he steps away from Santander, sources said he is likely to look for other opportunities but still within the financial services sector.

Garringues' Scope of Work at Santander

The former financial chief of Santander's APAC unit was a managing director who mainly focused on mergers and acquisitions for the Spanish HQ. He also managed the lending firm's private fundraising and initial public offerings.

Before he relocated to Hong Kong in 2019, Garrigues was based in Madrid and led the equity capital markets in Europe. He joined the company in 2011, and prior to this, he held various positions at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Deutsche Bank AG.

During his time at Santander, Garrigues was important in arranging high-profile deals such as the State Grid Corp. of China's $3 billion acquisition of the Chilean electricity network from Naturgy Energy Group SA. He was also behind Platinum Equity's acquisition of Urbaser SA. His exit from the company follows a recent leadership reorganization at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA in Asia, where the company replaced Pablo Riquelme with Pep Ferris as the new head of corporate and investment banking in the territory.

Job Cuts in 2024

Meanwhile, as the news of Gonzalo Garrigues' exit from Santander's APAC unit emerged, it was reported that the company is trimming its workforce amid its digital shift ambition. Reuters reported that as the firm moves towards digital operations, it will launch a digital bank service in Mexico soon.

However, this transformation will entail new job cuts affecting about 320 employees. Santander has already terminated around 2.7% of its staff in the United States, and most of those who lost their jobs were from retail operations.

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