Wells Fargo Fined US$250 Million

US bank Wells Fargo was hit with a new fine — US$250 million (RM1 billion) for failing to meet requirements in an agreement to pay previously harmed customers. The penalty was set by the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), one of the main US banking sector regulators.

Wells Fargo admitted to opening 3.5 million fake accounts between 2002 and 2017, allowing its employees to earn bonuses related to the sale of new products, and charge unnecessary insurance premiums to more than half a million customers on their car loans.

In 2018, the OCC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined the California bank US$1 billion and ordered it to reimburse the harmed customers the amounts improperly taken, and to strengthen the bank’s risk management program. In addition to the penalty, Wells Fargo will face limits on the bank’s future activities until existing problems in mortgage servicing are adequately addressed.

In February 2020 the bank was hit with a US$3 billion fine over the fake accounts scandal. Wells Fargo has already paid more than US$7 billion in financial penalties related to its business practices.

The OCC banned John Stumpf, the Wells Fargo CEO from 2005 to October 2016, for life from the banking industry.