His comments come as the Financial Services Authority continues its investigation into the sale of interest rate swaps to small firms before the base rate was cut to 0.5%.
A report of the regulator’s findings is due to be published by the end of the month.
Sants also urged banks to avoid repeating the past mistakes over Payment Protection Insurance mis-selling that saw £9bn repaid to customers.
He told the Guardian: "It's clearly an opportunity for banks to respond positively, pro-actively and with the right attitude and get on and do something about it. There is an opportunity to demonstrate a new approach."
