Santander UK appoints former govt adviser Vadera as chairman

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LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 12 (Reuters) - The British arm of Spanish bank Santander has named former government advisor Shriti Vadera as chairwoman, a role in which she is likely to oversee a stock market flotation of the lender some time in the next two years.

Vadera, a former investment banker and one of the closest advisors to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, will replace Terry Burns at the end of March. She will join the board as joint deputy chairman next month, Santander UK (LSE: 44RS.L - news) said.

The bank has been searching for a replacement since Burns said in April he planned to step down.

"Her deep expertise in UK and global economies as well as her banking experience add to her credentials as a strong, independent non-executive chairman," said Ana Botin, the head of Santander Group in Madrid and previously CEO of the UK business.

Santander is expected to spin off and separately list its British arm some time next year or in 2016, after delaying the process when the UK economy fell into recession and the bank was restructured.

Vadera, 52, will team up with Nathan Bostock, who became UK chief executive in September after Botin moved to Madrid to succeed her father as group chairman after his death.

Vadera was an investment banker with SG Warburg and UBS between 1984 and 1999, when she joined the UK government's Treasury for eight years.

She held other senior government roles from 2007 to 2009 and then spent two years as a G20 advisor, and since 2011 has advised governments, banks and investors on the eurozone crisis, banking, debt restructuring and financial markets. She has been a director of BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) since 2011. (Reporting by Steve Slater and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Michael Urquhart)