Mr de Palacios Caro is the Secretary of and legal counsel to our Board (but is not a Director), having
been appointed in 1999. He was previously legal counsel of Banco de Fomento, S.A. and Corporación
Bancaria, SA., vice-chief counsel of the Guarantee Fund for Deposits Held on Credit Institutions,
secretary of Banco Meridional, S.A. and Banco de Granada, S.A., director of Banco de Levante, S.A.,
chairman of Banco de Barcelona, S.A., provisional director, appointed by the Bank of Spain, of Banca
Catalana, S.A., Banco Industrial de Cataluña, S.A. and Banco Industrial del Mediterraneo, S.A. and a
director of Autopistas Concesionaria Española, S.A. He is currently secretary of Compañía Vinícola del
Norte de España, S.A. and of several Vocento companies. Mr de Palacios Caro holds a law degree from
Universidad Complutense de Madrid and attended the senior management program (PADE) from IESE.
