In June 2023, Santander was ranked as 49th in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's biggest public companies.

The combined bank, known as Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH,[9][10] was designed to be a "merger of equals", in which the top executives of the two pre-existing firms would share control of the merged entity.

This post-merger disagreement was resolved when BCH executives Jose Amusátegui and Angel Corcóstegui agreed to accept severance payments, retire and pass control to Botín, at an expense to shareholders of €183 million.

[9]: 169  The large termination payouts generated negative press, and Botín was eventually brought to trial on criminal charges of "misappropriation of funds" and "irresponsible management".

Also that year, the anti-corruption division of the Spanish public prosecutor's office cleared Botín of all charges in a separate case, in which he was accused of insider trading.

[14] On 26 July 2004, Banco Santander Central Hispano announced the acquisition of Abbey National plc.

[16] In May 2007, Banco Santander Central Hispano announced that in conjunction with The Royal Bank of Scotland and Fortis it would make an offer for ABN AMRO.

[18] In July 2008, the group announced it intended to purchase the UK bank Alliance & Leicester, which held £24 billion in deposits and had 254 branches.

[19] Santander also purchased the savings business of Bradford & Bingley in September 2008, which held deposits of £22 billion, 2.6 million customers, 197 branches and 140 agencies.

[23] On 14 December 2008, it was revealed that the collapse of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme might mean the loss of €2.33 billion at Banco Santander.

[27] In October 2013, Santander acquired 51% of Spain's largest consumer finance business, Financiera El Corte Inglés, for around €140 million.

[28] Santander acquired a €470 million stake in HSBC's Bank of Shanghai in 2013 to rebalance its business to the Asian market.

[33] In 2018, the bank announced a three-year push into Latin America to increase its presence in the market, particularly Brazil and Mexico, targeting these countries' super-rich.

[38] On 21 October 2024, Spain's Santander launched its digital bank in the United States, with the potential to fund up to $30 billion in vehicle loans.

[43] In 2013, global growth equity firm General Atlantic, along with Warburg Pincus LLC, acquired a 50% stake in Santander Asset Management.

[56] In March 2020, Santander Group in conjunction with La Liga announced the first ever LaligaSantander Fest, a global charity concert event seeking to raise funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.