Sérgio Rial, CEO of Santander Brazil and regional head of South America for the Santander Group, will become chairman of Santander Brazil’s board of directors, beginning January 1, 2022. Following nearly seven years as CEO of the Brazilian subsidiary, Rial is to step down from his executive role and will be succeeded by Brazilian Mario Roberto Opice Leão, who has been head of Santander Brazil’s Corporate Business division since 2015.

Sérgio Rial’s responsibility as regional head of South America for the Santander Group will pass to Carlos Rey de Vicente, who will lead the region from 1 January 2022. Mr Rey, who is currently the vice president of Finance at Santander Brazil and a member of its executive committee, has worked closely with Sergio Rial in recent years in developing and executing growth plans within the South America region.

Having previously worked in the America Division of Santander Group, Carlos Rey de Vicente is deeply knowledgeable of the region, with more than 20 years of experience in Latin America, and the Brazilian market itself, where he has been working for more than seven years.

Sergio Rial said:

“Over the past two years, the board of directors and I have worked together with group management to ensure we have a seamless succession strategy, leveraging the strength and continuity within our current management team, who together have led one of biggest transformations in the financial industry. Our goal is to continue building on the success of the past seven years, and I look forward to working with Mario and the team as we begin a new phase in the company’s development based on a brave, fearless, intelligent and, above all else, human culture.”

Mario Roberto Opice Leão, who has been a member of Santander Brasil’s executive committee for four years, was also placed in charge of medium-sized companies at the bank last year, expanding the scope of his responsibilities. He has over 25 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree in production engineering from the Escola Politécnica de São Paulo.

Before joining Santander in 2015, Leão had a successful career in leading roles in Corporate and Investment Banking at Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. He will also be appointed as a member of the board of directors of Santander Brazil.

Mario Leão’s current responsibilities will be assumed by João Marcos De Biase. As a result, in addition to De Biase, as of January, Santander Brazil’s Executive Committee will include Andrea Almeida, who joined the bank this year after serving as CFO at Petrobras, and will be responsible for the Finance VP; and Elita Vechin Pastorelo, currently the legal officer at the Wholesale Banking division, will lead the Human Resources and Ombudsman VP.

With that, the bank’s executive committee, which is increasingly diverse, will have four women, since Patricia Audi continues to lead the Institutional Relations, Sustainability and Events units, and Vanessa Lobato will take over the Retail division, the main business area of the company, succeeding Juan Moreno.

After a highly successful career in the Brazilian financial system, Álvaro de Souza will step down from Santander Brazil’s board of directors, which, in addition to Rial, will also include Angel Santodomingo and Alberto Monteiro Neto as members, both of whom remain in their roles at the helm of the CFO and Wealth Management divisions, respectively.

The management changes are subject to the receipt of all necessary approvals.

Featured image: Sérgio Rial , Mario Roberto Opice Leão and Carlos Rey.