SHUSA Declares Quarterly Dividends on Preferred Stock and Capital Trust

BOSTON, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 Capital Trust V Securities. A dividend payment of $0.45625 per depositary share is payable on February 15, 2011 to holders of record on February 1, 2011 for SHUSA's Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock . A dividend of $0.484375 is payable on February 15, 2011 to holders of record on February 14, 2011 for the Capital Trust V Securities .

About our company

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A. and is the holding company for Sovereign Bank and Santander Consumer USA, Inc. Sovereign Bank is a financial institution with principal markets in the northeastern United States with more than 700 branches, over 2,300 ATMs and approximately 8,000 team members. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com/.

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is a retail and commercial bank, headquartered in Spain, with a presence in ten main markets: Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the U.S. Founded in 1857, Santander had $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. For more information on Santander, visit http://www.santander.com/.

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.

Santander Holdings USA, Inc.

CONTACT: Financial, Kirk Walters, [phone],
[e-mail], or Andrew Withers, [phone],
awithers@@sovereignbank.com, or Media, Ellen Molle, [phone],
[e-mail], all for Santander Holdings USA, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.santander.com/