Santander names Europe head for trade and working capital origination

Santander CIB has appointed Juan Suárez Romero as head of trade and working capital origination for Europe, strengthening leadership across one of the bank’s core transaction banking areas.

Romero began the role in May after more than five years as Santander’s global head of working capital origination. Based in Madrid, he reports to Enrique Rico, global head of trade and working capital solutions, and Bart Timmermans, head of global transactional banking for Europe.

The appointment gives Santander a dedicated European lead across trade and working capital origination at a time when corporate clients are under pressure to improve liquidity, manage longer payment cycles and strengthen supply chain resilience.

Romero has been with Santander since 2007 and has held roles across export finance, commodity finance and corporate finance, including positions in Chile and the US. His background gives the bank continuity across several areas that are increasingly overlapping for large corporates.

Trade and working capital finance are becoming more closely linked as companies look for integrated support across receivables, payables, inventory and cross-border trade flows. Banks are responding by tightening origination structures and building regional leadership around liquidity-led client needs.

For Santander, the move follows wider market activity in purchase order finance, digital working capital tools and private credit-linked trade assets. European corporates are also facing continued uncertainty from tariffs, supply chain disruption and higher funding costs.