Company News

April 21, 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 May 15, 2009 to holders of record on May 1, 2009 for the Sovereign Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (NYSE: SOVPRC). A dividend of $0.484375 is payable on May 15, 2009 to holders of record on May 14, 2009 for the Sovereign Capital Trust V Securities (NYSE: SOVPRB).

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

Ellen Molle
Office: 617-757-5573
Email: emolle@sovereignbank.com