Sovereign Bank Slates 8 Percent Layoff

Adding to the parade of bank layoff announcments, Sovereign Bank says it's eliminating 1,000 jobs, about 8 percent of its 12,000 employees.

Spain's Banco Santander SA, which already owns 25 percent of Sovereign, is set to acquire the remaining 75 percent of the northeastern U.S. regional bank in a deal announced in October. The job cuts will take place across the company beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008 and continuing throughout 2009.