[4] Pérez Companc, for whom Banco Río de la Plata financed a number of acquisitions during President Carlos Menem's privatization drive (for significant stakes in Telecom Argentina, freight rail carrier Ferroexpreso Pampeano, electric distributor Transener, gas distributor TGS, and numerous others) ultimately sold a controlling stake in the bank (35%, with an option to buy for another 15%) to Grupo Santander in May 1997 for US$1.1 billion, upon which it was renamed Banco Río, and listed in the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange.

[5][6] Its most important acquisition during the partnership with Santander was that of Banco Tornquist, among the most traditional names in Argentine banking.

[1] Its services include retail banking, debit and credit cards, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, fixed-term deposits, money transfers, cash management, and other banking operations processing services to businesses and individuals, as well as to small and medium businesses.

[1] The bank, maintains deposits of around US$7.7 billion (nearly 7% of the total), and a lending portfolio of US$6.4 billion (8% of the total); the 3.5 million Santander Argentina credit cards (a 13% market share) make it a close second as the largest issuer of these in Argentina, next to Galicia Financial Group.

[2] The bank operates 330 branches nationwide, and employs over 6,000; its network of Banelco ATMs, totaling over 2,000, is the most extensive in the country.