Kristy Berner is Chief Legal Officer for Santander US, providing strategic legal counsel and overseeing all legal operations in support of Santander entities, businesses, and functions across the United States.

Prior to Santander’s acquisition of Webster Bank in 2026, Kristy served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Webster Bank and Webster Financial Corporation, where she led the organization’s corporate legal services.

Prior to Webster, Kristy served as Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, and Assistant Corporate Secretary at M&T Bank Corporation. Before joining M&T, she was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at both People’s United Bank and First Niagara Bank, and Deputy General Counsel at KeyBank. She began her legal career at Hodgson Russ LLP, where her practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, securities, and corporate matters.

Kristy is an Advisory Board member of Connecticut Financial Scholars, a non-profit focused on financial literacy and economic empowerment for students. She previously served on the Quinnipiac University Center for Women in Business Advisory Board and held leadership roles as Chair and Vice Chair of the American Bankers Association General Counsel Group. She is also a long-standing member of the Society for Corporate Governance and a variety of other legal and banking trade associations.

Kristy holds a bachelor’s degree, an MBA, and a Juris Doctor from the State University of New York at Buffalo.