, Columnist
Santander Gives Investors the Runaround
A decision by the Spanish bank not to redeem a 1.5 billion euro perpetual bond would damage trust. Investors deserve more assurances.
After the debacle around its new CEO, Santander isn't winning any friends among bond investors.
Photographer: Angel Navarrete/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Banco Santander SA missed an opportunity to win over its bondholders on its earnings call this week.
Investors are worried that the giant Spanish lender may take the highly unusual (and unwelcome) step of not redeeming 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of perpetual bonds in March. Rather than offering any public reassurances, the bank’s CEO Jose Antonio Alvarez merely stuck with the line that “we call or we don’t call based purely on economic terms.”