Santander committed to UK regardless of Brexit vote outcome, Botin says

Santander´s chairman said she expected Britons would choose to remain in the European Union, while reiterating the lender´s commitment to the UK.

"Regardless of the outcome, Santander will stay," Ana Botin said during the Institute for International Finance´s sping meetings on Tuesday in the Spanish capital, daily Expansion reported.

"The UK is our most important market, with a third of our balance sheet deployed there. We have a lot at stake," Botin added.

"One cannot expect Brexit not to have any consequences", the banker said, adding that issues such as immigration, sustainable growth and youth unemployment could all be dealt with better by the UK and Europe remaining together.

In other remarks made at Tuesday´s IIF sessions, Botin took aim at regulators, saying that the share price of European banks was taking a hit from uncertainty surrounding regulatory capotal requirements.

"European banks are being penalised by the uncertainty. The regilation has been drafted, that is what we are told, if that is so then put them in place as quickly as possible.

"We require regulatory certainty".

She went on to explain how over the past eight years lenders had beefed up their capital levels significantly, even as the cost of capital had remained the same, which made it hard to keep shareholders happy. Traditional lenders also had to compete with rivals from emerging markets and new players in the space."

In parallel, BBVA chairman Francisco Gonzalez told an audience that central banks´ ultra-loose monetary policies were "killing" lenders, who were finding it impossible to cover their cost of capital in such an environment.