The General Assembly of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) has unanimously agreed today to elect Alejandra Kindel\u00e1n as President of AEB for a four-year term, replacing Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Rold\u00e1n, who in April 2021 announced his decision not to seek a third term at the head of the Association.<\/p>\n
Alejandra Kindel\u00e1n\u2019s candidacy was submitted to the Assembly by the AEB General Council, based on the consensus proposal of the Association\u2019s five largest banks represented on its Council, in accordance with Article 16.3 of its bylaws.<\/p>\n
The new AEB Chair expressed to the Assembly her gratitude for the support received from all member institutions and the honour of representing them and succeeding Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Rold\u00e1n, who has driven a significant transformation of the Association during his term. She also committed to working with the member institutions to address the sector\u2019s major challenges, such as the digital transformation of banking and the transition to green finance, and to helping bring the sector closer to society and improve understanding of the role of banks. <\/p>\n
Alejandra Kindel\u00e1n (Caracas, 1971) has spent most of her professional career in the financial sector. Until now, she has served as Head of Research, Public Policy and Institutional Relations at Banco Santander. She has also been a member of the Board of Santander Consumer Finance in Europe (SCF) and Banco Santander Argentina, as well as Executive Vice-Chair of the OECD Business and Industry Advisory Committee and Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Banking Federation, among other roles on executive or advisory committees of academic institutions and within the sector. <\/p>\n
For his part, the outgoing Chair thanked the member banks for the trust placed in him over the past eight years and expressed his satisfaction at having been able to represent the sector during this period, in which the Spanish banking system\u2014following the outbreak of the international financial crisis and the subsequent recession in the Spanish economy\u2014has faced one of the most complex and intense stages in its recent history.<\/p>\n