Exhibit 99.1

       Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. Successfully Completes Remarketing of Trust
                 Preferred Securities and Redemption of Warrants

PHILADELPHIA, PA...Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent
company of Sovereign Bank ("Bank"), announced the settlement of the remarketing
of its Trust Preferred Income Equity Redeemable Securities ("PIERS") on June 27,
2003. The remarketed preferred securities, with an annual distribution rate of
3.00%, will be redeemed Monday, August 25, 2003. Sovereign was the lowest bidder
in the remarketing and purchased the remarketed preferred securities at $32.79
per share. Lehman Brothers was engaged as the remarketing agent.

In connection with the remarketing, Sovereign issued 30,626,632 shares of common
stock to those holders of its warrants who gave notice to exercise, with
fractional shares paid in cash; all others warrants were redeemed at their
warrant value of $17.21.

James D. Hogan, Sovereign's Chief Financial Officer, stated, "We are very
pleased with the success of the remarketing of the trust preferred securities
and redemption of the warrants. Although common shares outstanding will increase
by 30.6 million shares, 16.9 million shares were already included in Sovereign's
diluted share count during the first quarter of 2003. As we stated earlier, due
to the elimination of the cost on the trust preferred security, the net effect
of the remarketing is neutral to earnings per share, and approximately 13%
accretive to Sovereign's tangible common equity."

Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), headquartered in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, a $41
billion financial institution with 525 community banking offices, nearly 1,000
ATMs and about 8,000 team members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Sovereign Bank is one of
the top 25 largest banking institutions in the United States. For more
information on Sovereign Bank, visit www.sovereignbank.com or call
1-877-SOV-BANK.

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