Ana Botin has been appointed the new chairman of following the death of her father.

Emilio Botin had a heart attack on Tuesday and died after twenty eight years in charge. Ms Botin is the fourth generation of the family to run the bank.

She was previously chief executive of Santander UK and during her time oversaw the transformation from building society to bank. She has also been on the board of Santander since 1989.

The decision was made on Wednesday after the appointments and remuneration committee met to appoint a successor.

Ms Botin is now one of the most powerful women in the world with perhaps only Christine Lagarde at the IMF and Janet Yellen at the Federal Reserve wielding more clout.

The Santander UK board is starting its search to find a new chief executive next week. Deputy chief executive Nathan Bostok has taken control in the meantime.

“In just three and a half years, Ana has transformed Santander UK, turning three former building societies into one of Britain’s most successful banks,” said UK chairman Terry Burns.

“Thanks to her dynamic leadership, we are now in a unique and privileged position for the future. And while we will greatly miss Ana’s energy and passion in the UK day-to-day, we know we can continue to count on her support in the next stages of our journey. The Santander UK Board will meet next week as part of an orderly process to identify a new CEO,” he added.