Sep 30, 2008 8:10 pm US/Eastern
Sovereign Bank Says It's Safe
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Sovereign Bank says it's safe, even though it took a huge hit Monday during the stock market's record plunge.
The third-largest bank in Massachusetts lost 72-percent of value, even though there has been no negative news about it.
Financial analyst Art Hogan told WBZ Sovereign has done nothing wrong and customers shouldn't worry.
"Sovereign Bank is running their business just like they always have. They rely on deposits, they've made very conservative investments, but unfortunately they're a bank. So, in this environment it's very difficult to be a bank, and a publicly traded bank, especially if you don't have the breadth and the size of the large banks like Bank of America and Citibank."
"Sovereign Bank is fundamentally sound and well capitalized. We continue to enjoy a comfortable level of liquidity," Sovereign spokesperson Ellen Molle told WBZ.
"We have $12 billion of liquidity available, and the events and circumstances of the market has had no significant impact on the banking business of Sovereign customers. We continue to offer the same level of products and services."
Plenty of people are still nervous. According to new research from
SurveyUSA, more than half of Americans are now worried their bank will fail.
Hogan has some advice for them.
"Sit back and relax. The FDIC's got you covered up to $100,000," he said.
"If you've got more than that, perhaps you need to spread that out. But if you don't, your money's protected."
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