Spanish banking giant Banco Santander has promoted Jose Antonio Alvarez to the post of CEO and made various other changes to its board of directors, with effect from January 1.

This is the first major shake-up at the bank since Ana Botín took charge of the bank after the death of her father, Emilio Botín.

Alvarez, who formerly worked as the bank’s finance chief for 10 years, will succeed Javier Marin in his new role, who may leave the bank after serving for less than two years as CEO.

At the same time, Ana Botín has hired José García Cantera to the post of chief financial officer.

Cantera previously served as the CEO of Banesto, which is a former unit of Santander, when Ana Botín chaired that bank.

The bank has also hired Bruce Carnegie-Brown as first deputy chairman and lead independent director of the board.

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Carnegie-Brown serves as the chairman of UK price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, and is also a board member at the UK division of Santander, which was previously led by Ana Botín.

The lender has also appointed Sol Daurella, chairman of the Coca-Cola bottling company in Spain and Portugal, and Carlos Fernández González, a former top executive of beer maker Grupo Modelo, in the role of independent directors.

Rodrigo Echenique, a non-executive board member has been designated in the role of vice chairman, while Fernando de Asua and Abel Matutes have stepped down from the board.