What does Santander see in the U.S. that other banks are missing?

Many foreign banks have struggled to make inroads in the United States, and several have decided to pare back their presence in recent years. HSBC last year announced that it was ending its attempt to establish a competitive mass-market retail presence in the U.S., and MUFG Union has agreed to a merger with U.S. Bank, ending the Japanese-based MUFG's U.S. toehold. But Spanish bank Santader is going the other way, buying out the public shares of its U.S. auto loan arm, Santander Consumer USA, and expanding its commercial and business lending businesses. Tim Wennes, CEO of Santander Bank, N.A., says the synergies between the bank's European and South American market share make expanding its U.S. operations feasible and scalable in a way that other foreign banks have not. Wennes also talks about the regulatory challenges of banking across borders, the prospects for integrating climate change into supervisory action, the critical role of technology and where he expects business to grow in the near future.