Santander Consumer Names Blythe Masters Chairman

Santander Consumer USA Holdings named Blythe Masters nonexecutive chairman, replacing the executive who quit the post less than two weeks ago and a week after the subprime auto lender's parent company was hit with a regulatory order.

Masters, the chief executive of blockchain-technology startup Digital Asset Holdings, joined Santander as chairman Wednesday. She succeeded Thomas Dundon, who left the lender on July 2 to "pursue new opportunities." Dundon was also chief executive of Santander Consumer, a company he co-founded and eventually sold to the Spanish banking company Banco Santander.

Stephen Ferriss, who had been interim chairman since Dundon's departure, will remain on the board.

"Blythe Masters' deep understanding of the financial markets and emerging bank technologies, coupled with her regulatory expertise, make her the right choice to lead" the board, said Jason Kulas, chief executive of Santander Consumer.

The 46-year-old Masters is a former executive of JPMorgan Chase, where she most recently headed the global commodities unit. Masters this month joined the advisory board of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a trade group for the nascent cryptocurrency industry.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston last week hit Santander Holdings USA, the immediate parent company of Santander Consumer, with an order that requires it to improve internal risk management, liquidity and capital adequacy controls.

Santander was one of only two banks to fail the qualitative portion of the Fed's stress test known as Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review in March, after it had also failed in 2014.

Also on Wednesday, Santander Consumer named six new directors: José García Cantera, Victor Hill, M-nica L-pez-Monís Gallego, Javier Maldonado, Robert J. McCarthy and William Rainer. Each replaced a director whose term had expired or who retired.