CEO

Watch video profile Maria Dolores Dancausa

María Dolores Dancausa was born in Burgos, is married and has three children. Since October 2010, Ms Dancausa has held the position of chief executive officer of Bankinter, one of the leading financial institutions in Spain. She graduated from the Colegio Universitario San Pablo CEU with a degree in law. She has participated in several management programmes at Harvard Business School. She also completed an advanced management programme at the INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France, as well as a master’s in human resources and company strategy at the Instituto Universitario Euroforum-INSEAD in Madrid

She has served in the financial sector throughout her career, first at Banco Exterior and then at Bankinter. When Línea Directa Aseguradora was created in 1994, she was appointed general secretary of the company and of the board of directors, posts she occupied until becoming chief executive officer in 2008. During this period, she contributed to consolidating the company and positioning it as the fifth largest car insurance company in Spain.

Following her having been appointed Bankinter's CEO in late 2010, she continued to serve as a member of Línea Directa's Board of Directors until April 2021, the date on which the company went public. From 2013 to 2018 she served as an independent director of the British firm Esure, one of the UK's leading insurance companies. She is currently serving as chairperson of the Board of Directors of EVO bank and of Avantcard DAC and External Independent Director of Acciona.

Under her management, Bankinter has been confirmed as one of the most solvent and healthiest banks in Europe, with a series of indicators (profits, assets, lending, capital and efficiency) that continued to improve steadily throughout the recession. According to the European Banking Authority's 2021 stress tests, Bankinter is the best bank in Spain and the third best out of the 100 European banks on the list. The entity has also cemented its reputation as one of the most sustainable banks in the world after being included for the fifth year in a row on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, the most prestigious of its kind.

Awards

María Dolores Dancausa has received several awards in acknowledgement of her career. Among them, Forbes magazine noting her as one of the most influential people in Spain and one of the best CEOs in Spain stands out. In 2013 she was awarded CEO of the Year for the first time, and in 2021 she was again placed in the top 1, being the only woman to whom this award has been given. Furthermore, she has recently risen two places in the MERCO ranking of the 100 business leaders with the best reputation in Spain, and currently occupies sixth place. Dancausa entered this ranking more than ten years ago, and since then has been consolidating her position.

In 2011, the chief executive officer received an award from the magazine Ejecutivos for her excellent professional career. In 2012, she was awarded Most Relevant Personality of the Year at the Noche de la Economía and, that same year, the newspaper Expansión recognised her with the Emprendedores & Empleo Award for Best CEO of the Year. María Dolores Dancausa has received the EDA Award for Executive of the Year, as well as the Financier of the Year Award from Ecofin in 2013 and the Executive of the Year Award from the magazine Emprendedores in 2014. In 2017, she received second prize in the Tintero Award granted by the APIE in recognition of her transparency in the media. In 2018, she received the Best Iberian Manager of the Year Award from the Portuguese-Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Financial Excellence in Professional Career Award from the IEF in recognition of her career in the financial sector. In November of the same year, Computerworld awarded María Dolores Dancausa the CEO of the Year Award for having successfully combined the power of technology with efficiency and effectiveness in business and, in January 2020, the Madrid Chamber of Commerce awarded her the 2020 Woman Leader Award for her career of achievement and her outstanding work at the helm of Bankinter.

In recent years, Bankinter has stood out for its financial results and robust growth across all business lines. The Bank closed 2022 with record profits, one year ahead of the targets set for 2023, as a result of greater commercial momentum and a capacity to attract business that has led the Bank to grow in all business lines, customer segments and different geographies in which it operates. At the end of 2022, the Bank maintained its leadership position among listed banks in terms of profitability and asset quality, with enhanced capital adequacy which continued to be well above the regulatory requirements.

Bankinter is the sixth bank in terms of size in the Spanish financial system, the fifth largest Spanish bank in terms of market capitalisation and profits, and the first in terms of profitability and quality of assets. Bankinter bases its strategy on diversified and complementary lines of business, with a presence in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg.