New Sovereign CEO a Central Falls native

PHILADELPHIA – The man that Sovereign Bancorp Inc. has tapped to take over as president and CEO is a Central Falls native, making it two high-ranking Sovereign executives who once called the “Square-Mile City” home.
Sovereign Bancorp, the parent of Sovereign Bank, said last week that Paul A. Perrault will take over on Jan. 3, replacing Joseph P. Campanelli.
Perrault grew up in Central Falls, as did Steven Issa, CEO of Sovereign Bank’s New England South region. One person familiar with Perrault and Issa said last week that the two lived in homes just a few blocks from each other.
It was not immediately clear if that connection played a part in Perrault being considered for the job. A Sovereign Bank spokesperson said both Perrault and the bank were restricted on what they could say until he takes the job because of a non-compete agreement with Perrault’s former employer.
Perrault has previously served as CEO of Chittenden Corp., a New England-based regional bank that operated in many of Sovereign’s markets before being acquired by Peoples United in 2007. Perrault served as CEO from 1990 until the acquisition.
Recently, Philadelphia-based Sovereign has been hit hard by mortgage and other consumer-credit losses. When Congress last week failed on its first try to approve a bailout plan, the bank’s share price plummeted 72 percent to $2.33. The share price recovered somewhat later in the week.
Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: SOV), the parent company of Sovereign Bank, is a $90 billion financial institution with nearly 800 community banking offices, more than 2,000 ATMs and about 12,000 employees mostly in the Northeast. For additional information, visit www.sovereignbank.com.