EPC Elects Javier Santamaría as Chair and Günther Gall as Vice Chair
The European Payments Council (EPC), representing the European banking industry in relation to payments, has elected Javier Santamaría as chair and Günther Gall as vice chair. Santamaria and Gall will succeed current EPC Chair Gerard Hartsink and vice chair Claude Brun, whose mandates will end in June 2012.
EPC chair elect Santamaría has served as a member of the EPC plenary since the creation of the EPC in 2002. The plenary is the decision-making body of the EPC. Since 2009, Santamaría also chaired the EPC SEPA Payment Schemes Working Group. Santamaría, former head of operations and business services, is assistant general manager with Banco Santander. He represents the bank in several organisations related to payment systems and transaction banking in addition to the EPC, such as the Euro Banking Association (EBA), SWIFT and Iberpay. He also continues to be actively involved in academic matters.
EPC vice chair elect Gall has served as a member of the EPC plenary since 2002 as well. In the EPC, Gall represents Raiffeisen Zentralbank Group, Vienna. He is executive director and head of transaction services at Raiffeisen Bank International Group, a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Group. Gall is a director of the SWIFT board and a member of the board of the EBA. He chairs the Payment Systems Working Group of the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) and co-chairs the global Payment Market Practice Group of SWIFT.
Santamaría and Gall were elected for a two-year term in office commencing on 20 June 2012.