Santander Consumer Names Ex-CFTC Chief Its Chairman, Replacing Blythe Masters

Santander Consumer Holdings in Dallas on Tuesday appointed William Rainer chairman, and it announced that Blythe Masters has resigned to advise Banco Santander — its Spanish parent company — on the blockchain.

Masters — a former JPMorgan Chase executive who is currently chief executive of Digital Asset Holdings — will serve on Banco Santander's international advisory board, and she will also join the board of Openbank, the company's online bank.

Rainer is currently a member of the Santander Consumer board, serving on the audit and regulatory oversight committees. From 2001 until 2004, he served as chairman and CEO of OneChicago, a futures exchange. Before that, he served as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a press release, Ana Botin, executive chairman of Banco Santander, praised both Masters and Rainer, saying that she is "very excited" that both have agreed to take on new roles.

The change comes nearly a year to the day after Masters took over as chairman of the subprime auto lender, as part of a broader executive reshuffling.

It also caps off what has been a tumultuous year for the Santander Consumer, marked by accounting woes and broader concerns about the credit quality of its loan book.

Santander Consumer is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on July 27.