PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank ("Bank"), today
announced that Thomas D. Cestare will be joining the company in February of
2005 as Chief Accounting Officer, reporting to James D. Hogan, Sovereign's
Chief Financial Officer.
A Certified Public Accountant, Cestare was most recently a Partner with
KPMG LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cestare joined KPMG LLP in May of
2002 and was promoted to Partner in 2003. There he was responsible for
Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 training and a member of the firm's securitization
and derivative expert network. Prior to joining KPMG, Cestare spent twelve
years with Arthur Anderson LLP. He was named audit manager in 1995 and
promoted to senior manager in 2000, serving some of their largest and complex
clients with a specialization in financial services including leasing, credit
cards, commercial banking, and insurance companies. "We are fortunate and
pleased to be bringing on someone with Tom's in-depth financial services
background and technical expertise. He will be a great addition to the
Sovereign team," commented Hogan. Cestare will be responsible for external
financial reporting with regulatory agencies, including both SEC and OTS
reporting, establishing and monitoring corporate accounting policies, and
other financial projects. Mark R. McCollom is Sovereign's current Chief
Accounting Officer as well as Managing Director of Strategic Planning and
Sovereign Bank's Chief Financial Officer. McCollom will retain his
responsibilities as Chief Accounting Officer until Cestare commences his
employment in February 2005.
Cestare, 36, is a graduate of University of Delaware and a member of the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent company
of Sovereign Bank, pro forma a $60 billion financial institution with more
than 650 community banking offices, over 1,000 ATMs and approximately 9,500
team members in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. In addition to full-service
retail banking, Sovereign offers a broad array of financial services and
products including business and corporate banking, cash management, capital
markets, trust and wealth management and insurance. Pro forma for pending
acquisitions, Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United
States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit
http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
Note:
This press release contains statements of Sovereign's strategies, plans
and objectives for 2004 and beyond. These statements constitute forward-
looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995), which involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual
results may differ materially from the strategies, plans and objectives
discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a
difference include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions,
changes in interest rates, deposit flows, loan demand, real estate values and
competition; changes in accounting principles, policies, or guidelines;
changes in legislation or regulation; Sovereign's ability in connection with
any acquisition to complete such acquisition and to successfully integrate
assets, liabilities, customers, systems and management personnel Sovereign
acquires into its operations and to realize expected cost savings and revenue
enhancements within expected time frame; the possibility that expected one-
time merger-related charges are materially greater than forecasted or that
final purchase price allocations based on the fair value of acquired assets
and liabilities and related adjustments to yield and/or amortization of the
acquired assets and liabilities at any acquisition date are materially
different from those forecasted; other economic, competitive, governmental,
regulatory, and technological factors affecting the Company's operations,
integrations, pricing, products and services; and Sovereign's ability to
realize the anticipated benefit of hiring a new Chief Accounting Officer.
SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL: Jim Hogan, +1-610-320-8496, or
jhogan@sovereignbank.com, or Mark McCollom, +1-610-208-6426, or
mmccollo@sovereignbank.com, or Stacey Weikel, +1-610-208-6112, or
sweikel@sovereignbank.com; or MEDIA: Ed Shultz, +1-610-378-6159,
or eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of Sovereign Bancorp
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