Following the death of Emilio Botin, who headed Spanish bank Santander for 28 years, his daughter Ana Patricia has been named as the new chairwoman. <br /><br />The 79-year-old turned a regional Spanish lender into one of the world’s biggest banks and helping to drive Spain’s remarkable economic growth in the 1990s.<br /><br />Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said: “Botin was a man capable of making Santander our country’s most important bank. He has been a great ambassador for Spain. I am so sorry and I embrace his family.”<br /><br />Under Botin, Santander bought banks across Latin America in the 1990s and took over Britain’s Abbey National 10 years ago.<br /><br />When much of Spain’s banking sector needed to be bailed out two years ago, Santander’s international footprint protected it from the country’s broader economic crash.<br /><br />After succeeding his father in 1986, Emilio Botin, grew Santander from a bank with 1,650 branches and 10,000 employees to the eurozone’s largest with nearly 14,400 branches worldwide and 184,
