Santander's Botin defends Orcel offer as CEO row reaches court

Madrid: Santander boss Ana Botin defended the bank's actions in a court hearing over the withdrawal of a multi-million euro offer more than two years ago to make Italian banker Andrea Orcel its CEO.

The very public row, which judge Javier Sanchez Beltran unexpectedly suspended after a two-hour hearing on Wednesday, offered a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a major bank. It ended up in a Madrid court after Spain's largest lender dropped plans to make Orcel, previously the top investment banker at Swiss bank UBS, chief executive as a result of a dispute over his pay package.