a $2.8 billion (€2.6 billion) financing package to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group so they could buy a 10% stake in Deutsche Bank. In August 2018, an Investment Bank trainee accused one of the managing directors of UBS of drugging and sexually assaulting her at a social gathering in September. Orcel personally invited her to his London office to clarify that the director had been suspended and subsequently resigned. Orcel appeared on Bloomberg Markets later that day explaining a revamped infrastructure and process of handling sexual misconduct at the company, noting it must be "completely eradicated". In the months preceding October 2018, Orcel reportedly "lobbied intensely" to be the next CEO of UBS. After giving in to Orcel, UBS put him directly in line to succeed Ermotti. Santander In September 2018, Ana Botín announced that Orcel would lead Spanish commercial bank and financial services company Banco Santander as its chief executive officer (CEO), starting early 2019. Orcel formally left UBS on September 30, 2018. His appointment to the chief executive made him the first non-Spanish individual to be nominated for such a high-ranking position at the company. Despite being a traditional mergers and acquisitions banker, Orcel expressed interest in staving off banking digitization instead of acquiring more banks or merging with other large banks. As Orcel left UBS his employment contract included variable remuneration valued at $21.3 million (€18.5 million). Santander agreed to pay Orcel this remuneration as a part of his sign-on bonus on October 19, 2018, if UBS did not pay it. In January 2019 UBS refused to pay out his deferred stock options, enforcing a "hard-lined" departure policy. This triggered his offer of employment at Santander to absorb the complete cost of those deferred stock options. The total amount Santander had to pay to hire Orcel increased from $21.3 million to more than $50.7 million (€50 million). One estimate had the total cost of Orcel's contract to be as high as $60 million. Santander could only cover a third of that amount. Orcel was released from his contract and regained his UBS deferred stock options. Industry reaction to the news was mixed with Euromoney stating: "If Santander wanted him, it should have paid for him"; The Economist noted the political backlash Santander would face for hiring Orcel after Spain's 2008–2014 financial crisis. The Spanish bank offered Orcel capital to start his own investment bank after withdrawing their job