Fitch Upgrades Santander Bancorp IDR on Upgrade of Parent Co

Business Wire, May 12, 2006

CHICAGO -- Fitch has upgraded the Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Santander Bancorp (SBP) and its subsidiary Banco Santander Puerto Rico (BSPR) to 'AA-' from 'A+' and the short-term ratings to 'F1+' from 'F1'. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

Given SBP's strong support rating of '1', the rating upgrade is based on the upgrade of the parent, Banco Santander Central Hispano, the IDR of which was upgraded earlier today to 'AA'.

A review of the Individual ratings for SBP and BSPR will be conducted at a later date.

Fitch has taken the following rating actions:

Santander BanCorp

--Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'AA-' from 'A+'; Stable Outlook;

--Short-term issuer rating to 'F1+' from 'F1';

--Subordinated debt to 'A+' from 'A'.

Banco Santander Puerto Rico

--Long-term IDR to 'AA-' from 'A+'; Stable Outlook;

--Short-term issuer rating to 'F1+' from 'F1';

--Long-term deposits to 'AA' from 'AA-';

--Senior long-term debt to 'AA-' from 'A+'.

The following ratings have been affirmed:

Santander BanCorp

--Support '1'

Banco Santander Puerto Rico

--Short-term deposits at 'F1+';

--Support '1'.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.