Sovereign Bank

Sovereign Bank, a Philadelphia-based company, is respected as the eighteenth major financial services organization in the United States, with almost eight hundred Community Banking centers in 9 locations, and over two thousand ATM sites.

Sovereign Bank is owned and operated by the Sovereign Bancorp Inc. Presently the company has over $82 billion worth of assets, one of the biggest in the North Eastern United States banking market. The Sovereign Bank provides a wide range of financial products and services which includes retail and commercial banking, corporate and business banking, capital markets, insurance, wealth management and cash management.

The origins of the Sovereign Bank success dates back to the year 1902 at a time when the retail banking in the United States was starting to boom, particularly in the Northeastern part. The company started with a noble aim to help the local workers, especially the textile employees, get their own home and lot. The company started out as loan and building association catering to this group of people.

It was only in the 80s, when the brand Sovereign came into the picture, then, followed the formation of the mother company, the Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. In its course of operation, the company underwent many acquisitions. And after every acquisition, the earnings of the company increased, evidence of its positive and successful corporate moves. The company also has its share of many firsts including being one of the US organizations to own the biggest branch acquisition in American banking history.

The company’s major breakthrough came in 1991 when it acquired the Nassau Federal RTC. The company combined in a $153.9 million worth of assets from the said company, $158 million of depots and four bank offices in Somerset and Mercer Counties in New Jersey. In that same year, Sovereign Bank added five new New Jersey branches under its wings through the acquisition of the United Federal RTC in September 6. It had $168.9 million worth of assets and $165 million worth of deposits.

A year later, the company acquired the Jersey Shore Branch worth $500 million of assets and more than 10 branches near the Toms River in New Jersey. Sovereign Bank had its first successful merger agreement with Harmonia in 1st of January, year 1993. The merger brought in, the biggest in three years, $800 million worth of assets and more than fifteen bank centers for the company in the Kenilworth market. It also brought in $2.50 of exchange stock for the SOV/CIL 1.7325 shares.

Seven months later, it acquired Home Unity RTC, with nine branches and $252 million of assets. This was Sovereign Bank’s first penetration in the Philadelphia market. And before the year ends, it completed its second merger agreement with Valley Federal in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. It has $275 million worth of assets and nine branches in the Valley region. In 1994, Sovereign refocused on the Jersey market with the purchase of the Shadow Lawn Branch, a group of banks headquartered in Monmouth County, New Jersey. It has more than fifteen branches and the acquisition was worth $787 million of assets.

In September of 1994, the company made its second purchase of another National RTC branch in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. This added $14.4 million worth of deposits. Sovereign capped the year with a merger of the Charter Federal, total assets is $406 million, adding 10 more branches in the Morris County, New Jersey.

For the next five years, Sovereign would have made 8 acquisitions and 7 mergers. The start of the new millennium was a big leap for the company as it bought 285 branches from Fleet Boston, amounting to $12 billion in deposits, $9 billion worth of loans, and a staggering 578 ATM sites thereby adding new Sovereign Bank locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Looking back to its brief but rapidly growing history, the Sovereign Bank is now an institution that is true to its name. From the Sovereign Bank online banking to corporate and government services, the Sovereign Bank is indeed a supreme financial service provider in the United States.