PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank ("Bank"), today
reported that it has filed definitive proxy materials relating to its 2006
annual meeting of shareholders scheduled to be held on Sept. 20, 2006 in
Foxborough, Mass. and began mailing proxy materials today, Tuesday, Sept.
5, 2006. The matters to be considered by shareholders at the meeting are
the election of directors, a new non-employee director compensation
program, ratification of auditors and a shareholder proposal relating to
classification of directors.
A proposal that had been included in preliminary proxy materials filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission dealing with the voting of
certain shares owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. in excess of
19.9% was withdrawn and will not be considered at the meeting. The Board of
Directors decided to withdraw this proposal at this time because the time
period before the Sept. 20 meeting is, in its view, too short to permit
shareholders to adequately consider the proposal and taking into account
the fact that the investment agreement between Sovereign and Santander
requires that Sovereign submit a proposal with similar effect to its
shareholders by June 30, 2007. Sovereign presently expects to submit such a
proposal to shareholders at the 2007 annual meeting of shareholders.
About Sovereign
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent
company of Sovereign Bank, an $89 billion financial institution with nearly
800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs after giving effect to the
recently announced branding agreement in which Sovereign ATMs will be
placed in CVS/pharmacy locations and approximately 12,000 team members with
principal markets in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad
array of financial services and products including retail banking, business
and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management
and insurance. Sovereign is the 17th largest banking institution in the
United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit
http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL CONTACTS, Mark McCollom,
+1-610-208-6426, mmccollo@sovereignbank.com, or Stacey Weikel,
+1-610-208-6112, sweikel@sovereignbank.com, or MEDIA CONTACT, Ed
Shultz, +1-610-207-8753, eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
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