The Federal Reserve has banned a former Santander Consumer USA executive from the banking industry for improperly accepting high-priced gifts such as Super Bowl tickets and luxury hotel stays.
The former executive, Brent Huisman, “routinely solicited and accepted” gifts from auto auction companies that worked with Santander Consumer, the Fed said in an enforcement action made public Thursday. Huisman consented to the issuance of the order.
Huisman previously reached a settlement over the issue with Santander Consumer, which had sued him for accepting the gifts and for the misuse of confidential information. He had also agreed to pay $275,000 to Santander Consumer, the subprime U.S. auto lending affiliate of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander.
Huisman accepted more than $1 million in gifts from auto auction companies, including Kentucky Derby tickets, first-class airfare and sponsorships for youth sports teams he coached, Dallas-based Santander Consumer said in its lawsuit.
Santander Consumer also alleged that Huisman and his wife used credit cards from an auction house that worked with Santander Consumer. The two used the cards to pay for sporting goods, airline tickets and a yacht rental in Cancun, the lawsuit said. The company said that it learned of the gifts after Huisman’s departure.
As the company’s senior director of asset remarketing, Huisman worked with auto auction companies to sell repossessed vehicles or cars that came off leasing arrangements.
He left Santander Consumer in June 2019, two months after asking staff to print confidential spreadsheets and presentations that contained company sales data and its fees with several vendors, the lawsuit said. He would later use those documents at an unnamed Santander Consumer competitor, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said that Huisman’s conduct disrupted Santander Consumer’s business and harmed the company’s reputation and relationships with current and potential business partners.
Huisman’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. Santander Consumer declined to comment.
The Fed’s enforcement action prohibits Huisman from working for a bank without the central bank’s prior approval. Violations would open him up to further civil or criminal penalties.
