As Your Money reported last year, the UK arm of the Spanish bank was fined £12.4m by the Financial Conduct Authority due to “widespread” investment advice failings; the FCA found that Santander’s advisers were not “fully getting to grips” with customers’ personal circumstances, or their attitudes to risk, before making a recommendation. New advisers were also not adequately trained.

Santander closer their 800-strong UK investment advice division in March 2013, but the service was overhauled and ‘fundamentally changed’ before being re-launched in January 2014, with 100 advisers.

The compensation pay-out follows a year in which the bank also paid out £95m in PPI mis-selling costs, and spent £50m closing 100 branches across the UK; however, the UK arm’s profits last year were up by 26 per cent to £1.4bn, and overall group profits increased by 32 per cent to £7.3bn.

The bank has remained resilient due to consumers switching to their 1|2|3 account, which charges £2 a month but pays out 3 per cent interest on balances up to £20,000. Nathan Bostock, chief executive of Santander’s UK operations, said one in four (276,000) bank customers who had switched their current account provider in the past year had moved to Santander. Flotation of the UK arm remain a “medium-term objective” for Santander, Bostock added.

If you believe you are entitled to PPI compensation, please visit the Your Money guide to claiming PPI.