Spanish banking giant Banco Santander is continuing the expansion of its private banking operation in the US with plans for three more priva...

Spanish banking giant Banco Santander is continuing the expansion of its private banking operation in the US with plans for three more private bank branches. The announcement of new branches in Houston, San Diego and a third branch in another Californian city comes after an October deal for Bank of America to transfer around 6,000 high net worth Latin American clients in the US – and $3.5 billion in assets under management – to the Spanish bank. The new branches will bring to five the number of Santander's US private banking branches that have been added to existing branches in New York and Miami. Santander already has over 20 million customers throughout Latin America, where its Santander Private Banking unit has around $30 billion in assets. It also recently acquired a 25 per cent stake in Sovereign Bancorp. In 2003 Santander sold a 24.9 per cent stake in its Mexican unit, Serfin, to Bank of America.