Sovereign Bank Arranges Ex-Im Trade Financing for Intercontinental Bank, Plc

BOSTON, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Through Ex-Im Bank's letter of credit policy, Sovereign Bank recently confirmed a letter of credit from Intercontinental Bank, Plc of Nigeria. This transaction will support the sale of wheat and other grains valued at $10,000,000 to Intercontinental Bank's clients, Flour Mills of Nigeria; Honey Wells Flour Mills Ltd.; and Unikem Industries, Ltd.

Sovereign is the first bank under the Ex-Im program to arrange trade financing under the structured facility for Intercontinental. This includes a short-term revolving letter of credit direct to the Nigerian bank, which, in turn, will issue import letters of credit on behalf of their domestic customers. Sovereign expects to execute the first transaction under the agreement later this month.

The following trade finance deals have also recently been completed by Sovereign Bank:

Sovereign's Structured Trade Group provided an $11,833,180 three-year-term loan to a private Mexican company for their purchase of capital equipment. This equipment will be used in the oil and gas industry in Mexico.

Sovereign's Structured Trade Group closed a $10.0 MM revolving supplier line of credit. This line of credit is utilized by the U.S. supplier to extend 180-day financing terms to its buyers located in Mexico and the Caribbean, with Sovereign Bank financing the supplier through the purchase of these trade receivables. Due to the success of the facility, Sovereign and the supplier are in discussions to double the program size by year end.

"Our Trade team was able to creatively structure these complex deals in a way that immediately benefits our customers, as well as their suppliers and customers, and reduces risk for all parties involved," said Dennis Dubois, senior vice president and director of International Trade Services for Sovereign Bank's Global Solutions Group. "We leverage our experienced team and extensive product solutions to meet our customers' global trade needs and support the continued growth of their businesses."

Sovereign Bank's Structured Trade Finance Group, with offices in Boston, MA and Hartford, CT, provides customized short and medium-term financing structures for U.S. exporters located throughout the United States. Along with other divisions of Sovereign Bank, including Global Cash Management, Capital Markets, and Asset Based Lending, the Structured Trade Finance team is expert at developing customized solutions to help our clients secure financing and protect their foreign receivables against the risk of non-payment. For more information on Sovereign's Structured Trade Finance Group, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com/corporate/international/trade_finance.asp .

About Sovereign

Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") , is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, an $89 billion financial institution with nearly 800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs after giving effect to the recently announced branding agreement in which Sovereign ATMs will be placed in CVS/pharmacy locations and approximately 12,000 team members with principal markets in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. Sovereign is the 17th largest banking institution in the United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com/ or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.

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