SPANISH bank Santander is considering a plan to list its UK operations on the London stock market, it is claimed.

Newspaper reports said the listing could take place this autumn and could raise as much as £3bn to fund growth.

The plan is said to involve floating 20% of Santander UK, the subsidiary formed by Santander’s takeovers of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and parts of Bradford & Bingley.

Santander is also set to buy 318 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland.