EXHIBIT 99.1

                              DATE:  July 8, 1995
                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                              FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                              Jay S. Sidhu (610) 320-8415
                              Richard E. Elko (610) 320-8434
                              Linda Hagginbottom (610) 320-8498


                   LAWRENCE W. O'NEILL RESIGNS
                AS DIRECTOR OF SOVEREIGN BANCORP

          WYOMISSING, PA., Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS-
SVRN), parent company of Sovereign Bank, FSB ("Sovereign")
announced today that Lawrence W. O'Neill has resigned as a
director of Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., effective June 30, 1995. 
Sovereign believes that Mr. O'Neill's resignation, as well as the
prior resignations of former directors Frederick J. Jaindl and
Arthur A. Haberberger, represent a continuation of a policy
dispute underlying litigation commenced by Sovereign against them
in December 1993.

     Mr. O'Neill, along with Mr. Jaindl and Mr. Haberberger, had
been engaged in a policy dispute over Sovereign's strategic
direction with other Board members, including Sovereign's CEO,
Jay S. Sidhu, and Sovereign's present Chairman, Richard E. Mohn,
which resulted in litigation, commenced by Sovereign in December
1993 against Mr. O'Neill, Mr. Jaindl, and Mr. Haberberger.  This
litigation was settled in January, 1994.  Mr. Jaindl resigned
from Sovereign's Board in April, 1995, and Mr. Haberberger
resigned in September, 1994.

     One of Mr. O'Neill's letters of resignation includes, as the
reason for his resignation, the reasons set forth in Mr. Jaindl's
letter of resignation relating to differences and disagreements
with other directors relating to certain of Sovereign's
operations, policies, and practices, including the "proper level
of tangible capital, interest rate sensitivity and use of
derivatives," and matters of corporate governance and strategic
direction.  Sovereign's Board previously considered these reasons
and the concerns which underlie them and unanimously believed
them to be without merit.  Mr. O'neill's letter of resignation
also alleges a "difference" with other directors over the
"response" of Sovereign's Board to purchases of stock by
Mr. Sidhu and Mr. Mohn during November 1994.  In January 1995,
Mr. Jaindl brought to the attention of Sovereign's Board a
letter, allegedly signed by a person he refused to identify,
suggesting that certain transactions in Sovereign securities by
Mr. Sidhu, executed in mid-November 1994 after approval by
Sovereign's inside counsel, violated Sovereign's Code of Conduct
and federal securities laws in light of Sovereign's approval
shortly thereafter, of the leveraging, from time to time, of
Sovereign's ESOP to permit the purchase of up to four million
shares of Sovereign's common stock by an independent trustee over
an indefinite period of time, in the market.  Sovereign's Board,
including Mr. O'Neill, directed its regular outside counsel to
review the matter and report back to Sovereign's Board.  On
January 30, 1995, outside counsel reported, among other things,
that in its view, such securities transactions, as well as
certain securities transactions effected by Mr. Mohn, also
executed after approval by inside counsel, did not violate
Sovereign's Code of Conduct or the federal securities law. 
Shortly thereafter, Mr. O'Neill questioned outside counsel's
independence and conclusions and suggested that the matter be
turned over to another law firm.  In response to Mr. O'Neill,
Sovereign's Ethics Committee then retained special counsel,
nationally recognized in matters involving insider trading, and
an investment banking firm, both with no prior relationship to
Sovereign, to review regular outside counsel's opinion and to
expand upon regular outside counsel's review.  On February 22,
1995, Sovereign's Ethics Committee submitted to Sovereign's
Board, its final report, supported by the opinions of special
counsel and the investment banking firm, reaffirming regular
outside counsel's conclusions.   This report was unanimously
approved by Sovereign's Board, including Mr. O'Neill.

     Sovereign believes that Mr. O'Neill's and Mr. Jaindl's
disagreements with Sovereign's Board relating to operations,
policies, and practices, as well as Mr. O'Neill's "differences"
with the Sovereign Board relating to its "response" to the
aforementioned securities transactions also represent a
continuation of the policy dispute underlying the 1993
litigation.

     Commenting on these resignations, Sovereign's Chairman,
Richard E. Mohn said, "We regret all disruptions at Sovereign
over the past months.  I am very confident there will be absolute
focus at Sovereign to assure maximizing value for all our
shareholders."

                             THE END