Santander Responds to Relational Lawsuit

Business Wire, Dec 13, 2005

MADRID -- Regarding the lawsuit filed by Relational Investors in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. and Banco Santander Central Hispano S.A., Santander said: "The lawsuit is totally without merit."

Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is the 9th largest bank in the world by market capitalization and the largest in the Euro Zone. Founded in 1857, Santander has 63 million customers, 10,099 offices and a presence in over 40 countries. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, and is a major player elsewhere in Europe, including the United Kingdom through its Abbey subsidiary and Portugal, where it is the third-largest banking group. Through Santander Consumer it also operates a leading consumer finance franchise in Germany, Italy, Spain and nine other European countries. In 2004, Santander recorded 3.6 billion euro in net attributable profits. In Latin America, Santander manages over US$130 billion in business volumes (loans, deposits and off-balance sheet assets under management) through 4,100 offices in 10 countries.