Santander Holdings USA Would Maintain Capital Strength Through Most Adverse Scenario, Stress Test Finds

BOSTON, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The capital ratios of Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) would remain above minimum regulatory requirements under the severely adverse economic scenario of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), according to stress tests conducted by SHUSA and the Federal Reserve as part of its Comprehensive Capital Analysis Review (CCAR).

SHUSA's Tier 1 common ratio under the Federal Reserve's Supervisory Severely Adverse Scenario would decline from 13.7% at September 30, 2013 to a minimum of 7.8%, according to SHUSA's stress test results, and a minimum of 7.9% according to the FRB's estimate. SHUSA's benchmark capital ratio would therefore remain well above the regulatory requirement of a minimum Tier 1 common ratio of 5%.

After the submission of the capital plan, SHUSA executed an additional $1.75-billion capital increase, which was announced on Feb. 27. Had that capital increase been included in the results, the minimum Tier 1 common ratio would have been 10.2%, under SHUSA's calculations.

SHUSA, a first-time filer in the CCAR process in 2014, also announced that it would resubmit its capital plan under the CCAR after the FRB informed SHUSA that it objects to the plan due to qualitative aspects of the capital planning process. SHUSA plans to resubmit its capital plan in accordance with the FRB's timetable. The Fed did not object to SHUSA's payment of dividends on its outstanding class of preferred stock.

Details of SHUSA's CCAR results were disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission 8-K disclosure filed by SHUSA, published today.  

About Santander Holdings USA

Santander Holdings USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Banco Santander S.A., is the parent company of Santander Bank, N.A., with a 100% share, and of Santander Consumer USA Holdings, Inc., with a 61% share.  Founded in 1857 and based in Spain, Banco Santander is a geographically-diversified retail and commercial bank. Banco Santander has more than 102 million customers, 13,900 branches and 182,000 employees. For more information about the Santander Group, visit www.santander.com.

Corporate Communications
Peter Greiff  
Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs
[email protected]  
617.757.5777

SOURCE Santander Holdings USA, Inc.