Santander Defends Use of Signal App in Deal Disputed by Elliott

Banco Santander SA defended on Thursday its executives’ use of an “ephemeral” messaging platform to communicate about a take-private buyout of the Spanish bank’s US auto loan business.

Their use of Signal, which allows users to set up the auto-deletion of messages, was recommended by the bank’s cybersecurity team as a replacement for less secure text messaging platforms, said Ryan McLeod of Wachtell Lipton, representing the bank’s affiliates and board members of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. at a hearing before Vice Chancellor Lori Will.

That policy developed in Europe, “where privacy concerns have greater heft,” he said, adding that ...