Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (UK: /ˌsæntənˈdɛər, -tæn-/, US: /ˌsɑːntɑːnˈdɛər/, Spanish: [santanˈdeɾ]), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spainn Spain. Banco Santander was founded in 1857 as Banco de Santander. In 1999 it merged with Banco Central Hispano, which had in turn been formed through the 1991 merger of Banco Central and Banco Hispanoamericano. The combined bank, known as Banco Santander Central Hispano, or BSCH,