SHUSA Declares Quarterly Dividends on Preferred Stock and Capital Trust

BOSTON, April 15, 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 May 16, 2011 to holders of record on May 1, 2011 for the SHUSA's Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock . A dividend of $0.484375 is payable on May 16, 2011 to holders of record on May 13, 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 parent company of Sovereign Bank, a federally chartered savings bank. SHUSA has approximately 700 branches, over 2300 ATMS and 11,700 employees with principal markets in the northeastern United States.

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 approximately 1,217 trillion euros in assets at the end of 2010. 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 CONTACTS: Juan Carlos Alvarez, [phone],
[e-mail]; Andrew Withers, [phone],
[e-mail]; or MEDIA CONTACT: Ellen Molle, [phone],
[e-mail]

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