BOSTON, Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Holdings USA, Inc. ("SHUSA"), parent company of Sovereign Bank, N.A., announced today that its Board of Directors declared a dividend on SHUSA's Preferred Stock. A dividend payment of $0.45625 per depositary share is payable on February 15, 2013 to holders of record on February 1, 2013 for the SHUSA's Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (NYSE: SOVPRC).

About our company

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A. and is the holding company for Sovereign Bank, a financial institution with principal markets in the northeastern United States. Sovereign Bank has 721 branches, 2,195 ATMs and over 8,800 team members.

Banco Santander is a retail and commercial global bank, with a presence in 10 main markets: U.S., Germany, UK, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Spain and Portugal. Founded in 1857, Santander has more than 102 million customers, approximately 14,500 branches - more than any other international bank - and 188,000 employees. Santander was recently recognized as the Best Global Bank in 2012 by Euromoney magazine. 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.

SOURCE Santander Holdings USA, Inc.