Ana Botín, Emilio Botín’s daughter and Santander UK’s new chief executive, is among those said to be included in the investigation.
A Santander spokesman declined to comment when contacted by International Adviser this morning. However, in a widely-reported statement, the Botín family said it expected to be cleared by the investigation.
The case is understood to involve an account set up in the 1930s in HSBC Switzerland by the father of Emilio Botín, who died more than 15 years ago.
The Botín family is reported to have voluntarily paid €200m (£176m) to settle an outstanding tax bill over an account that is also a focus of the investigation, according to unnamed sources in a report in the Financial Times and other media outlets.
Jesus Remon, a lawyer for the Botín family, was reported as saying in a statement: “The family has voluntarily and completely normalised its fiscal situation and is up to date on all tax obligations. It hopes that this matter can be satisfactorily and quickly clarified by the court.”
The investigation came to light on Thursday after Spain’s high court said it was carrying out an investigation based on information it had received from French tax authorities, which in turn came from material leaked by a former HSBC employee, according to various reports.
Ana Botín was named to head up Santander UK a little more than six months ago. The bank is one of Britain’s five largest, following its acquisition of Abbey National in 2004 and Alliance & Leicester and parts of Bradford & Bingley in 2008, following the UK banking crisis.
