Beware of Santander in 2024
Throwaway/anonymous for obvious reasons.
I wanted to expose/vent about things happening at Santander in NY.
No Deal Flow –
There is barely any deal flow (with the exception of Lev Fin and sponsors) so Santander is having to lay off people in various groups within the bank. This has hit morale significantly and we are all on edge on who is next to be booted.
Pay –
The bank really screwed up the pay structure when they started offering guaranteed bonuses to hire outside bankers to bring in deals. This backfired for two reasons - (1) after a while they had to raise the pay of people already at the bank – this led to them offering the same pay for analysts that are not within the traditional Investment Banking meaning some people were working 9AM-5PM and others were working till 1/2 AM while making the same money; (2) the guaranteed bonuses destroyed the pay structure and people are getting let go to make sure the bank keeps their expenses low
People / Culture –
(1) The original Santander junior bankers don’t have the same opportunities as the legacy Credit Suisse bankers that have moved into the bank. Some for obvious reasons but others not so much. It doesn’t help the legacy CS bankers think they are better and this is causing a big rift among employees. (2) The American banking culture doesn’t align well with the Spanish working culture and this is leading to clash of working styles for obvious reasons. (3) Bankers specifically the legacy Santander folks are saying inappropriate things in the office that would clearly be HR violations at other institutions.
Potential industry violations –
All the legacy Credit Suisse bankers have the proper FINRA certifications but the original Santander juniors and seniors don’t have them and are talking/working with clients which might be a major violation of FINRA rules.
Facts
Wait what how can they be hiring rapidly yet laying off people at the same time. Poor management?
Buyers remorse while also having to keep pushing along
Could u also elaborate on differences between US and Spanish working culture?
Which groups have laid off people? I’ve not seen anyone be laid off yet
I interned this summer at IBD Santander and agree with all points above.
Dealflow was nonexistent throughout the summer outside of LevFin but narrative going around then was that 'groups were getting built up'. Issue back then was there was too much senior mgmt & too few analysts to cover them.
My big question/concern is, as an incoming FT Analyst for 2025, should I be worried as of now? - especially important for me as I am coming in as an international student, so if my job offer got rescinded I would be on a plane back to my home country in 60 days.
Bump
I'm curious about the inappropriate things being said
LMAO CS culture making both Santander and UBS toxic cultures
CS is a POS
I think it's time they get a FINRA investigation. Some of the steps are described by Oberheiden P.C., a law firm. But against Santander, I don't know. Tough.
This reeks of a kid who couldn’t land a job at Santander. How the hell would someone at a networking event be privy to the amount of deal flow? Sour grapes
Sounds like this person is/was at Santander and is reporting on the information that's there
Sounds like you're an associate at Santander
So basically what you're saying is that CS was only value additive in terms of Sponsors and LevFin as those groups have improved both at UBS and Santander while everything else goes downhill? This weirdly enough checks out given how sponsor and LevFin heavy CS was when I was there (ex-CS and now in PE). I think Sponsors-led and corporate-led LevFin and deals where we had a lead-left on the LevFin side were basically all the deals we won in my coverage area. Not too shocked to hear that those teams and those who left are doing well whether they ended up at UBS or Santander, also not shocked coverage teams not doing well given they no longer have the combined force of a great LevFin/Sponsors team as well as a very aggressive(to say the least) bank in terms of terms.
Does anyone have any insight into their SF office? Specifically tech team
when they came to our campus their main pitch was that the energy group was incredibly strong as well. what's the dealflow for them like compared to LevFin?
X
I didn’t realize Santander has an energy team. Are they based in NYC or Houston? Do they cover oil & gas?
X
yes it’s a great team. the md’s hired (santangelo, hansen, d’anna, etc) have a great reputation and track record
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