Santander encourages remote voting at April 3 shareholder meeting due to coronavirus

Spain's Santander on Tuesday said it would encourage shareholders to participate remotely during its annual general meeting (AGM) in the city of Santander on April 3 as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus.

In previous years more than 2,000 shareholders had attended the AGM in Santander. "In view of the current situation and the outlook for the coming weeks, the board has concluded that the best way to ensure that shareholders can fully exercise their rights safely in the upcoming AGM, is through participating remotely instead of attending in person, or voting in advance either themselves or through nominated proxies," the bank said in a statement.

Twenty-eight people have died in Spain from the coronavirus, with the number of cases jumping on Monday to 1,204, one of the highest in Europe, though still far behind Italy's tally. As a precautionary measure, Santander also asked its employees in the corporate centers located in Madrid to work from home for the next 15 days.

This measure follows actions taken in recent weeks across the group in all its markets, including the restriction of non-essential employee travel and meetings involving a large number of people. A source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday that Santander had moved around 60 employees from its trading floor at its group headquarters on the outskirts of Madrid to a different location in the capital as part of its contingency plans against a potential spread of the coronavirus.

In a separate statement, Santander said it would offer small businesses and self-employed workers pre-approved loans worth 20 billion euros to help them cope with the virus fallout.