Emilio Botín, hunting enthusiast and veteran chairman of Spanish bank Santander, rarely misses an opportunity to expand the group’s international franchise, and the global economic crisis has put plenty of vulnerable prey in his path.

In the US, Santander did not have much choice but to buy the whole of Sovereign Bancorp as the crisis deepened in October last year – although it made the most of the deal by buying its new stake at a 10th of the price agreed when it took a minority holding three years earlier.