Santander CEO says more than 1,400 UK bank jobs being cut

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MADRID (Reuters) – Santander will have cut more than 1,400 jobs from its British business by the time it completes an ongoing cost-cutting round, the Spanish bank’s CEO Hector Grisi said on Tuesday.

Grisi did not give an exact timeline of when the previously announced round of lay-offs had been carried out, but said “1,425 was the number of people we are reducing”.

The redundancy plan takes place as lenders worldwide shift towards online banking to better serve clients and amid a competitive landscape in Britain’s mortgage market.

“In this sense as we simplify and automate we will be able to do some more (layoffs)”, Grisi said, without detailing how many more could follow.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday the lender had largely completed a round of job cuts at its regional headquarters in the UK as part of an efficiency plan without giving numbers.

As of September, Santander UK had 21,812 employees.

On Monday, Santander’s UK unit said it had postponed the release of its earnings following a London court ruling last week that ordered motor finance brokers to inform customers fully about commissions when taking out car loans.

Santander, however, included the results of its British unit in group earnings. Net profit in Britain fell 19% year-on-year in the third quarter, while lending income was down 7%.