Sant Uk.10te% Regulatory News (SAN)

13 Oct 2008 07:30



13 October 2008

ABBEY AND A&L MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Abbey National plc ("Abbey") and Alliance & Leicester plc ("A&L") have announced changes to their management structure, following the acquisition of A&L by Banco Santander, S.A. ("Santander")1. The changes are designed to achieve the revenue benefits and cost savings previously announced, and to keep business disruption to a minimum during the transition period following the new ownership of A&L.

The main changes are as follows:

A&L will effectively operate as one with Abbey whilst recognising their separate legal status.

To achieve this, the Boards and Executive Committees of Abbey and A&L (together with other key Committees such as Audit & Risk Committee) will have common membership.

The following Abbey Directors will be appointed to the A&L Board with immediate effect:

The following A&L Directors will be appointed to the Abbey Board with effect from 21 October 2008:

The following Abbey Non-Executive Directors will resign from the Abbey Board with effect from 21 October 2008:

The following Directors will resign from the A&L Board with immediate effect:

Full details of A&L and Abbey Common Board Composition

Executive Directors:

Non-Executive Directors:

Antόnio Horta-Osόrio, Chief Executive, Abbey, said "The acquisition of Alliance & Leicester, and Bradford & Bingley's direct channels and savings business, is part of Santander's UK growth strategy. The combined business with Abbey gives us almost 1,300 branches and makes us the third largest deposit taker in the UK. In the future, we want to make the full range of our competitive, value-for-money products available to every one of our 24 million UK customers across our three great brands.

We will manage A&L and Abbey as one entity with common Boards and Executive Committees. This is the most effective way to bring these great businesses together. I am convinced that the addition of Alliance & Leicester, alongside Abbey and Bradford & Bingley's direct channels, will be a powerful new force in UK financial services."

Ends

Contacts

Notes

1. All changes are subject to FSA approval. Changes to the Abbey Board are subject to Board approval scheduled for 21 October 2008; a further announcement will be made once Board approval has been granted.