I am pleased to achieve our original objective of obtaining board representation, and I look forward to working constructively with the board and Sovereign's management team to build share value for the future.

I really haven't seen any situations, even with the most aggressive smaller hedge funds, where they have put their interest ahead of the other shareholders.

In one fell swoop, Sovereign and the Legislature significantly impaired the rights of Sovereign's approximately 87,000 shareholders, not to mention the rights of all shareholders of all Pennsylvania-chartered companies.

This is consistent with this board's pattern of disrespecting shareholder interests in favor of entrenching themselves in their lucrative positions.

There may or may not ever be a vote on these deals, so what we really want is a vote prior to the consummation of them on our board representation. Then if we have to digest and swallow these deals then we have to.

Sovereign's board continues to march forward on its cynical campaign to deprive its shareholders, at their expense, of the right to vote on transformational transactions.

Sovereign's board members have repeatedly breached trust with the very shareholders they were elected to represent. These directors must be removed as promptly as possible.

I've asked Richard Breeden to advise me on Sovereign.

These directors must be removed as promptly as possible and replaced with truly independent directors who will represent Sovereign and its shareholders' interests first and foremost.

We believe Sovereign designed these communications to mislead small shareholders.