Dividend Press Release

July 17, 2009

Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. ("Sovereign"), parent company of Sovereign Bank, announced today that its Board of Directors declared dividends on Sovereign's Preferred Stock and Capital Trust V Securities. A dividend payment of $0.45625 per depositary share is payable on August 17, 2009 to holders of record on August 1, 2009 for the Sovereign Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (NYSE: SOVPRC). A dividend of $0.484375 is payable on August 17, 2009 to holders of record on August 14, 2009 for the Sovereign Capital Trust V Securities (NYSE: SOVPRB).

Note: "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release regarding Sovereign Bancorp'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.

About Sovereign
Sovereign Bank is a financial institution with principal markets in the Northeastern United States and is a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A. Sovereign Bank has 754 community banking offices, over 2,300 ATMs and approximately 11,000 team members. Sovereign Bank offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets and wealth management. Banco Santander, S.A. is an international financial services company based in Madrid, Spain. For more information on Sovereign Bank, call 1-877-SOV-BANK.

Financial Contacts
Kirk Walters
Office: 617-346-7346
Email: kwalter1@sovereignbank.com

Stacey Weikel
Office: 610-320-8428
Email: sweikel@sovereignbank.com

Media Contacts
Andrew Gully
Office: 617-757-5513
Email: agully@sovereignbank.com