The heat surrounding Wells Fargo right now is nowhere near cooling down, as it seems the bank can’t go one business day without another governmental entity moving to take business away from the bank in response to the bank’s fake account scandal.
Last week, the state of Ohio became the latest to dump Wells Fargo, as Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced Friday that he is barring Wells Fargo from participating in future state debt offerings and financial services contracts initiated by state agencies for one year.
Kasich’s move was just the latest in a string of states and municipalities taking action against Wells Fargo.
Before Ohio, the city of Chicago, the state of California, and the state of Oregon all suspended ties with Wells Fargo in the wake of the scandal.
And now, two members of the legislative body that oversees the city and county where Wells Fargo is headquartered want the city to suspend any business with Wells Fargo as well.
To that end, two members of San Francisco’s board of supervisors, John Avalos and Jane Kim, plan to introduce a motion on Tuesday morning that would direct the city and county of San Francisco to cut business ties with Wells Fargo.
The supervisors will introduce the motion during press conference Tuesday morning on the steps of San Francisco city hall, and will be joined by representatives from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, the California Reinvestment Coalition and CalPIRG.
Additionally, San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros will take part in the press conference.
In the wake of the Wells Fargo fake account scandal and fine, Cisneros removed Wells Fargo from the city’s “Bank On” program, which helps to connect thousands of low-income consumers each year to “safe, accessible and low-fee accounts at credit unions and responsible banks.”
At the time, Cisneros said that the suspension of Wells Fargo from the “Bank On” program was the first time a bank had been suspended from the program in the program’s 10 years.
“The mounting evidence regarding Wells Fargo’s practices is nothing short of shocking. Consumers walked into Wells Fargo looking for an account to keep their hard earned money safe, and that's not what they got,” Cisneros said last month. “I started the Bank On San Francisco program because as treasurer I believe that money is safest in a bank account, not under a mattress. What Wells Fargo has done goes way beyond cross-selling practices. This is deceptive, it is wrong and it is predatory.”
During the Tuesday press conference, Cisneros is expected to speak about his decision to suspend Wells Fargo from the Bank On San Francisco program, as well as about resources set up to assist San Francisco residents affected by bank fraud.
