Santander Holdings USA, Inc. announced today that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System did not object to SHUSA's 2018 capital plan. This non-objection allows SHUSA to increase the common stock dividend and issue and redeem other capital securities. It also enables its subsidiary company, Santander Consumer Holdings USA Inc. ("SC"), to repurchase outstanding common stock.

"We have passed several important milestones this past year resolving legacy matters and, for the second consecutive year, the Federal Reserve did not object to our capital plan and proposed capital actions," said Scott Powell, Chief Executive Officer, Santander US. "Today's positive result is evidence of further progress and our commitment to meeting our regulators' expectations."

SHUSA's 2018 capital plan includes the following actions, subject to the approval of SHUSA's Board of Directors:

• Ordinary common dividends of $75 million per quarter, and a special dividend in Q3 2018 of $250 million;
• Maintaining the Q3 2018 dividend payment on the Company's preferred stock;
• Redemption of the Company's preferred stock; and
• Redemption of the Company's trust preferred securities.

In addition, SC, SHUSA's majority-owned subsidiary, announced an increase of its quarterly common stock dividend rate to $0.20/share, as well as a $200 million common stock repurchase plan.

Powell added, "Santander's strong capital position is realizing long-term value for our customers, communities and shareholders. We look forward to working with our boards of directors on our proposed dividend increases and SC's share repurchase program."

Any SC capital distribution is subject to approval of the Company's and SC's respective boards of directors. The timing and amount of any capital actions will depend on various factors, including the business plans and financial performance of both SC and SHUSA, as well as market conditions.

Santander HoldingsUSA, Inc. (SHUSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) (Santander), one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. As the intermediate holding company for Santander's U.S. businesses, SHUSA includes six financial companies with approximately 17,000 employees, 5.2 million customers and assets of over $129.2 billion as of March 31, 2018. These include Santander Bank, N.A., one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks by deposits; Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC), an auto finance and consumer lending company; Banco Santander International of Miami; Banco Santander Puerto Rico; Santander Securities LLC of Boston; and Santander Investment Securities Inc. of New York.