Tier 1 Capital Raising

Banco Santander Central Hispano SA
04 October 2004


    NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE US, CANADA,
                               AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN

           Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. ('Banco Santander')
                             Tier 1 capital raising

Further to the announcement on 29 September 2004, regarding the two Tier 1
capital raisings undertaken by Banco Santander, totalling Euro 500 million,
Banco Santander is pleased to confirm that it has successfully launched and
priced both issues, one of Euro 300 million CMS-Linked Non-Cumulative Perpetual
Guaranteed Preferred Securities and one of Euro 200 million 5.75% Non-Cumulative
Perpetual Guaranteed Preferred Securities. Joint bookrunners on both
transactions were BNP Paribas, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch.

Stabilization IPMA/FSA


Enquiries:

Banco Santander
Keith Grant (Head of International Media) + 34 91 289 5206
Peter Greiff (Deputy Head of International Media) + 34 91 289 5207


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange