They say there are no second acts in American lives. Except in Massachusetts banking.

Jay Sidhu, pushed out as chief executive of Sovereign Bancorp in 2006, could be making a New England comeback as the Pennsylvania bank he now leads agreed this week to buy two bank branches — one in Boston and one in Providence. Sidhu, credited with building Sovereign into one of the nation’s biggest regional banks, said he plans to expand the New England presence of his new company, Customers Bank of Wyomissing, Pa., into a $1 billion operation with up to 15 branches.