Report by Link Securities
US Republican senators have asked the country’s authorities to investigate Banco Santander’s acquisition of Webster and not to proceed with its authorisation until the “security concerns” raised by the deal have been addressed, the newspaper Expansión reported on Friday. In a public letter, Senators Bernie Moreno and Tim Sheehy state that ‘in the current geopolitical environment, ceding control over US deposits, data and credit decisions to Spain’s leading bank raises questions that warrant careful regulatory scrutiny, particularly given that Spain has not always acted as a reliable ally in advancing US security priorities’. The letter has been addressed to the Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Meanwhile, Expansión newspaper reports today that shareholders of the US bank Webster are due to attend an Extraordinary General Meeting tomorrow to vote on the offer made by Santander, with some shareholders and Republican senators opposing the move
