PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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 November 16, 2009 to holders of record on November 1, 2009 for the Sovereign Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (NYSE: SOVPRC). A dividend of $0.484375 is payable on November 16, 2009 to holders of record on November 13, 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 723 branches, over 2,300 ATMs and approximately 9,000 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, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.

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.

Sovereign Bank is a registered trademark of Sovereign Bank or its affiliates or subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.