Santander, the acquisitive Spanish bank, is expected to announce today that it has bolstered its capital ratios with a well-subscribed €7.2bn ($9.3bn) rights issue after a tense period last week when the share price fell perilously close to the discounted rights price.

A further collapse in the shares would have left up to a fifth of Santander in the hands of the underwriters, led by Merrill Lynch and Bank of America.