Another shoe is about to drop on Wells Fargo, as the megabank attempts to weather the storm surrounding the $185 million fine levied against it for the “widespread unlawful” practices of more than 5,000 former employees who opened more than two million fake accounts in order to get sales bonuses.
In addition to the fine Wells Fargo must pay, the bank is also facing an investigation by the Department of Justice, an inquiry from the Senate Banking Committee, and now an investigation by the House Financial Services Committee.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, announced the investigation Friday, stating the committee wants to review all of the records and materials that led to this fine and plans to call Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf to testify.
Stumpf is already set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next week.
In a letter sent to James Strother, Wells Fargo’s senior executive vice president and general counsel, Hensarling states that the committee is “very concerned by these serious allegations” and plans to investigate Wells Fargo’s “questionable sales practices and corresponding agreements with federal regulators in order to evaluate the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of Federal law.”
In addition to calling Stumpf to testify, Hensarling tells Strother that the Committee would like to conduct transcribed interviews with the following Wells Fargo executives: John Shrewsberry, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer; Timothy Sloan, president and chief operating officer; Michael Loughlin, senior executive vice president and chief risk officer; and Carrie Tolstedt, senior executive vice president for community banking.
In separate letters to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which fined Wells Fargo $100 million, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which fined Wells Fargo $50 million.
In each of those letters, Hensarling asks each agency to provide a number of documents relating to the Wells Fargo situation, and gives each agency one week to do so.
Hensarling asks the CFPB for the following:
- All records relating to aforementioned allegations of fraudulent or improper activity by Wells Fargo and/or its officers, employees, or directors
- Any documents or communications including, but not limited to, e-mails, between CFPB and Wells Fargo employees, officers, and/or directors, in the course of the CFPB’s review of Wells Fargo’s sales practices
- Any documents detailing supervisory policies and procedures of the CFPB that were in force while Wells Fargo was initially alleged to have engaged in the fraudulent or improper activity in 2011, which were designed to detect such fraudulent or improper activity from occurring
Hensarling asks the OCC for similar documents, including:
- All records relating to aforementioned allegations of fraudulent or improper activity by Wells Fargo and/or its officers, employees, or directors
- Any documents or communications including, but not limited to, e-mails, between OCC and Wells Fargo employees, officers, and/or directors, in the course of the OCC’s review of Wells Fargo’s sales practices
- Any documents detailing supervisory policies and procedures of the OCC that were in force while Wells Fargo was initially alleged to have engaged in the fraudulent or improper activity in 2011, which were designed to detect such fraudulent or improper activity from occurring
Both agencies are asked to provide the documents by Sept. 23, 2016.
Perhaps the shocking revelations of a former Wells Fargo employee about the company’s business practices, revealed on Reddit and covered here by Kelsey Ramírez, will come up during Stumpf’s testimony.
