Roman Blanco appointed CEO of Santander Holdings USA and Sovereign Bank

BOSTON, July 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) and Sovereign Bank, N.A. today announced that they have unanimously elected Roman Blanco as CEO of both companies.

The Boards also announced that Jorge Moran has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of both Boards.

Jerry Grundhofer, Chairman of the Board of SHUSA and Sovereign Bank, stated: "We respect Jorge Moran's decision to step down. Jorge's leadership since December 2010 has been instrumental in reorganizing Santander's businesses in the US, transforming Sovereign into a full-fledged commercial bank, and preparing the Bank for a new chapter of growth. The Board and I thank Jorge for his contributions and wish him great success in his future endeavors."

Mr. Grundhofer added: "We also look forward to working with Roman in this next phase. Roman is a proven, hands-on leader who has delivered outstanding results in his prior assignments."

Roman Blanco has successfully led Santander Bancorp and Banco Santander Puerto Rico since 2012. He joined the Santander Group in 2004, was Vice President of Banco Santander Brazil until 2007, and was then promoted to CEO of Banco Santander Colombia from 2007 to 2012. Before joining Santander, he worked for 13 years with consulting firm McKinsey & Co., where he went on to become senior partner, with multiple client engagements and projects in the financial sector. He holds a civil engineering degree and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Blanco commented: "My top priority is to keep us focused on our clients and their needs. Our fundamentals are solid, and together with our over 14,000 team members, we will achieve remarkable results. We have a unique opportunity and a bright future ahead of us."

About Santander Holdings USA
Santander Holdings USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A., and parent company of Sovereign Bank, N.A. 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 14,689 branches – more than any other international bank – and 189,858 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.

About Sovereign Bank
Sovereign Bank, N.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, is among the top 25 banks in the United States, with principal presence in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Sovereign Bank is focused on serving the needs of its customers by providing high quality service and a range of comprehensive financial solutions through its over 700 branches, over 2,000 ATMs and nearly 9,000 team members. For more information about Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 877-768-2265. Member FDIC.

SOURCE Santander Holdings USA, Inc.