Career biography

Mr Jaime Pérez Renovales holds degrees in Law and Business Administration from Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE-E3) and is a State Attorneys.

Since September 2015, he has served as Group General Counsel, and as secretary and legal adviser to the board of directors of Banco Santander, S.A. In addition, from 2015 until February 2021, he was responsible for the General Secretariat and Human Resources division.

Among other positions, he served as deputy head of legal services at the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (1997–1999) and as chief of staff to the Second Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of the Economy (2001–2003).

He also served as general secretary and secretary to the board of Banco Español de Crédito, S.A. (Banesto) between 2003 and 2009, when he was appointed deputy general secretary and secretary to the board of Banco Santander, S.A, and head of Santander Group’s legal department.

Between December 2011 and June 2015, he was under-secretary at the Ministry of the Presidency and was responsible, among other duties, for organising and coordinating the activities of the Council of Ministers, the Government’s delegated committees and the General Commission of Secretaries of State and Under-Secretaries. He also served as a member of the board of directors of National Heritage and as a board member of several state-owned companies, including the State Industrial Holding Company (SEPI). During this period, he was also chairman of the Official Gazette Agency.

He is a member of the jury for the Princess of Asturias Awards for Social Sciences and a member of the Board of Trustees of this Foundation. He chairs the Board of Trustees of Foundation Universitaria ICAI-COMILLAS. In addition, he is the author of numerous publications on administrative, corporate and securities market law and is a lecturer in Constitutional Law at Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE).

What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

In the public sector, I was involved in the implementation of the euro in Spain, contributing to the adaptation of the legal framework to the new currency. I also chaired the Committee for the Reform of the Public Sector (CORA), which identified more than 200 initiatives to improve public services. As part of this work, I was involved in the drafting of the two main Acts governing Public Administration in Spain: Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, and Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector.

I was also involved in the drafting of the Act formalising the abdication of King Juan Carlos I in 2015.

In the private sector, my entire career has been developed within the Santander Group, where I have participated in major transactions such as the resolution and acquisition of Banco Popular, the acquisition and sale of Santander Poland, and the TSB and Webster transactions. As General Counsel of Banesto, I led the introduction of remote shareholder participation in general meetings as early as 2007. This experience helped pave the way for fully virtual meetings, which proved highly effective during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now becoming standard practice in more advanced jurisdictions.