(BNC.L) Banco Santander SA Buy/Sell

RNS Number : 9127G Banco Santander S.A. 09 February 2010

Annex DTR3

Notification of Transactions of Directors/Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibility and Connected Persons

All relevant boxes should be completed in block capital letters.

1. Name of the issuer 2. State whether the
notification relates
BANCO SANTANDER, to (i) a
S.A. transaction notified
in accordance with
DTR 3.1.2 R,
(ii) a disclosure
made in accordance
LR 9.8.6R(1) or
(iii) a disclosure
made in accordance
with section 793 of
the Companies Act
(2006).

(i).
3. Name of person 4. State whether
discharging notification relates
managerial to a person
responsibilities/ connected with a
director person discharging
managerial
MR. FRANCISCO LUZ? responsibilities/
L?EZ, DIRECTOR OF director named in 3
THE ISSUER. and identify the
connected person

MR.FRANCISCO LUZ?
L?EZ
5. Indicate whether the 6. Description of
notification is in shares (including
respect of a holding class), debentures
of the person or derivatives or
referred to in 3 or financial
4 above or in instruments relating
respect of a to shares
nonbeneficial
interest 1 ORDINARY SHARES OF
0.50 EURO NOMINAL
AS IN 4 ABOVE. VALUE.
7. Name of registered 8. State the nature of
shareholders(s) and, the transaction
if more than one,
the number of shares
held by each of them
PURCHASE BYMR.
MR. FRANCISCO LUZ? FRANCISCO LUZ?
L?EZAND HIS L?EZON 5 FEBRUARY
CONNECTED PERSON 2010 OF 11,235
HOLD AFTER THE SHARES.

OF 1,170,463 SHARES,

0.014% OF THE
ISSUER'S SHARE

TREASURY STOCK).

9. Number of shares, 10. Percentage of issued
debentures or class acquired
financial (treasury shares of
instruments relating that class should
to shares acquired not be taken into
account when
calculating
SEE 8 ABOVE. percentage)

0.000%

11. Number of shares, 12. Percentage of issued
debentures or class disposed
financial (treasury shares of
instruments relating that class should
to shares disposed not be taken into
account when
calculating
percentage)

13. Price per share or 14. Date and place of
value of transaction transaction

PURCHASE BYMR. SPAIN,5 FEBRUARY
FRANCISCO LUZ? 2010.
L?EZON 5 FEBRUARY
2010 OF 11,235
SHARES@ 8.90 EUROS
PER SHARE.

15. Total holding 16. Date issuer informed
following of transaction
notification and
total percentage
holding following 9 FEBRUARY 2010.
notification (any
treasury shares
should not be taken
into account when
calculating
percentage)

1,170,463

0.014% OF THE
ISSUER'S SHARE

TREASURY STOCK).

If a person discharging managerial responsibilities has been granted options by the issuer

complete the following boxes

17. Date of grant 18. Period during which or
date on which exercisable

19. Total amount paid 20. Description of shares or
(if any) for grant debentures involved
of the option (class and number)

21. Exercise price (if 22. Total number of shares or
fixed at time of debentures over which
grant) or options held following
indication that notification
price is to be fixed
at the time of
exercise

23. Any additional 24. Name of contact and
information telephone number for
queries
NONE.

+(34) 912-893-390

Name of authorised official of issuer responsible for making notification

Date of notification

Notes: This form is intended for use by an issuer to make a RIS notification required by DR 3.3.

(1) An issuer making a notification in respect of a transaction relating to
the shares or debentures of the issuer should complete boxes 1 to 16, 23
and 24.

(2) An issuer making a notification in respect of a derivative relating the
shares of the issuer should complete boxes 1 to 4, 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 23
and 24.

(3) An issuer making a notification in respect of options granted to a director/person discharging managerial responsibilities should complete
boxes 1 to 3 and 17 to 24.

(4) An issuer making a notification in respect of a financial instrument
relating to the shares of the issuer (other than a debenture) should
complete boxes 1 to 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23 and 24.

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

RDSBLGDDUUGBGGC

BERLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Spain's Banco Santander, the euro zone's largest bank, has joined the bidding group for German government bond sales, the federal government's debt management office said on Tuesday.
The German finance agency said the inclusion of Santander had raised the number of banks on the list to 29.
To join the group banks must undertake to buy at least 0.05 percent of the total volume of debts sold by the German government, Europe's benchmark sovereign issuer.

(Writing by Sarah Marsh) Keywords: GERMANY BONDS/SANTANDER (sarah.marsh@reuters.com; +49 30 2888 5226; RM: sarah.marsh.reuters.com@reuters.com)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Judy MacInnes

LONDON/MADRID, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Spanish bank Santander is mulling the sale of a minority stake in its British arm through a London listing, industry sources said, in a move that could help shield it from rising loan losses at home.
Analysts and industry observers have been speculating about a potential public share offering for Santander's fast-growing British unit since the euro zone's largest bank struck gold with the market debut of its Brazilian subsidiary in October last year.
The bank's expressed interest in some of the assets being sold by bailed-out British banks has further fuelled talk of an IPO, possibly alongside a British acquisition.
But a British spin-off was not seen as imminent as Britain limps out of recession and bank sector valuations remain depressed.
The sources said several investment banks pitched the London IPO idea to Santander executives as part of broader fundraising strategies and the idea was being considered by the bank.
Proposals remain sketchy and no dates or details have been set. The plan could depend on planned regulatory changes, as well as on pressures at home, after Greek troubles have spread and hit markets and stocks including Santander.
Santander declined to comment.

For a Breakingviews column click here:
Santander's British arm, which makes up around 16 percent of group profits and could be worth over 10 billion pounds ($15.6 billion), has been built up through the acquisition of high street names Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.
Chairman Emilio Botin, who has steered Santander through the crisis thanks to a risk-averse model, a focus on retail banking and lucrative deals in Brazil and elsewhere, has said the bank aims to grow organically in Britain, and it would look at deal options.
It is looking at more than 300 branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, which would boost Santander's presence in British commercial banking, one source said.
Asked about an IPO of the British business last week Botin said "nothing is foreseen at present".

REPEATING BRAZIL'S SUCCESS?
As with Brazil, Santander will likely retain a majority stake in the British arm, and it is also expected to woo investors with a generous dividend yield and a lucrative payout ratio.
Less clear is whether the bank will move ahead with an IPO without increased certainty on the regulatory and macro outlook.
"The timing doesn't necessarily make sense when the rest of the sector is trading at book, and -- if you adjust for losses -- they paid a premum for book for these (British) businesses," analyst Joseph Dickerson at Execution in London said.
"I think they are talking about it now because Santander need to build their loan loss provisions."
Proceeds from the bumper Brazilian IPO -- widely recognised to have hit a timing sweet spot of improved credit growth forecasts and a broader markets boost fuelled by commodity prices -- were used to expand the arm's branch network, automatic tellers and improve capital ratios.
Results last week showed it also contributed a capital gain of 1.5 billion euros ($2.05 billion), helping replenish provisions for loan losses.
With capital not a concern for the British unit -- particularly after a 2008 injection of 1 billion pounds -- analysts say a deal could be a primary motivation.
"I think the UK IPO is very much in line with Santander's style," said fund manager Alejandro Varela at Renta 4, who manages 140 million euros in assets including Santander shares.
"I can see it happening some time later this year, but the money raised would be to make acquisitions (in the UK) in my view."
Andrew Lim, analyst at Matrix Group in London, said a British float would also help shield the group against more losses and higher funding costs as Greece triggered mounting concerns about debt risks in Spain and elsewhere. The cost of insuring against Santander's default widened 2 basis points overnight and has more than doubled since mid-January to 137 basis points.
"It would be a defensive move by Santander to try to raise money in order to offset the tidal wave of Spanish loan losses coming their way and the potential increase in refinancing costs. The sovereign risk is a big deal for them," Lim said.

One major hurdle ahead, however, is regulatory uncertainty, particularly fog surrounding proposals from the international regulator, the Basel committee. Current plans would force banks selling minority stakes to still account for all of subsidiaries' capital needs.
At 1232 GMT Santander shares were down 2.2 percent at 9.0 euros while the DJ Euro Stoxx banking index slumped 2.5 percent.

($1=0.6418 pounds)

($1=.7320 euros)

(Additional reporting by Steve Slater and Alex Chambers in London; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Mike Nesbit) Keywords: SANTANDER/ (clara.ferreira-marques@reuters.com; +44 207 542 3214; Reuters Messaging: rm://clara.ferreira-marques.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Judy MacInnes

LONDON/MADRID, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Spanish bank Santander is considering the sale of a minority stake in its UK arm through a stock market flotation to potentially repeat a windfall from a Brazilian spinoff last year, industry sources said on Monday.
Analysts and industry observers have been speculating about a potential public share offering for Santander's fast-growing UK arm since the euro zone's largest bank struck gold with the market debut of its Brazilian subsidiary in October last year.
The sources said several investment banks pitched the London IPO idea to Santander executives as part of broader fundraising strategies and the idea was being considered by the bank.
Proposals remain sketchy and no date or details have been set, however, and could depend on planned regulatory changes.
Santander declined to comment.

For a Breakingviews column click here:
Santander's UK arm, which makes up around 16 percent of the Spanish group's profits, is one of the market's most lucrative lenders, built up through the acquisition of high street names Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.
Chairman Emilio Botin has said the bank aims to grow organically in Britain, though it would look at acquisition opportunities. It is looking at more than 300 branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, which would boost Santander's presence in UK commercial banking, one source said.
Asked about an IPO of the UK business last week Botin said "nothing is foreseen at present".

REPEATING BRAZIL'S SUCCESS?
As with Brazil, Santander will likely retain a majority stake in the UK arm, and it is also expected to woo investors with a generous dividend yield and a lucrative payout ratio.
Less clear is the motivation for an offering in the near term, as the UK market recovers from a painful recession.
Proceeds from the bumper Brazilian IPO, widely recognised to have hit a timing sweet spot, were used to expand the arm's branch network, automatic tellers and improve capital ratios.
But with capital not an issue for the British unit -- particularly after a 2008 injection of 1 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) -- analysts say acquisitions would likely be a primary motivation, alongside raising the group's profile not long after a rebranding as Santander across the UK network.
Andrew Lim, analyst at Matrix Group in London, said a UK float would also help shield the group against more losses on bad debts in Spain and higher funding costs as concerns have mounted about debt risks in Spain and elsewhere.
"It would be a defensive move by Santander to try to raise money in order to offset the tidal wave of Spanish loan losses coming their way and the potential increase in refinancing costs. The sovereign risk is a big deal for them," Lim said.
Lim said the Brazilian IPO allowed it to book a 2.5 billion euros ($3.42 billion) capital gain to provision for Spanish loans and real estate.

One major potential hurdle, however, is regulatory uncertainty, particularly fog surrounding proposals from the international regulator, the Basel committee, which would currently force banks selling minority stakes to still account for all of subsidiaries' capital needs.
"Santander's capital position is sound, core capital at 8.6 percent end-December," analysts at bank Espirito Santo said.

"Therefore we shouldn't expect a partial listing in the short-term until uncertainties are cleared and the bank has more visibility regarding minority interest impact in capital ratios."

($1=.6418 pounds)

($1=.7320 euros)

(Additional reporting by Steve Slater in London; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Mike Nesbit) Keywords: SANTANDER/UK (clara.ferreira-marques@reuters.com; +44 207 542 3214; Reuters Messaging: rm://clara.ferreira-marques.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.