Sovereign Declares Quarterly Dividends on Preferred Stock and Capital Trust

BOSTON, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Santander Holdings USA, Inc. ("SHUSA"), parent company of Sovereign Bank, announced today that its Board of Directors declared dividends on SHUSA's Preferred Stock and Sovereign Capital Trust V Securities. A dividend payment of $0.45625 per depositary share is payable on November 15, 2010 to holders of record on November 1, 2010 for the SHUSA's Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (NYSE: SOVPRC). A dividend of $0.484375 is payable on November 15, 2010 to holders of record on November 12, 2010 for the Sovereign Capital Trust V Securities (NYSE: SOVPRB).

About our company

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is a retail and commercial bank, headquartered in Spain. Founded in 1857, Santander had USD 1.665 trillion in managed funds at the end of 2009. Santander has 92 million customers, approximately 14,000 branches – more than any other international bank – and over 170,000 employees. Its presence is concentrated in 9 major markets: Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the U.S.  For more information on Santander, visit http://www.santander.com.

Sovereign Bank, a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A., is a financial institution with principal markets in the northeastern United States. Sovereign has more than 700 branches, over 2,300 ATMs and 8,000 team members.  For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 877-SOV-BANK.

Note:  "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release regarding Santander Holdings USA, Inc.'s business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual future events to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.

SOURCE Sovereign Bank