On May 17, 2022, Wells Fargo President and CEO Charlie Scharf attended “The Future of Everything” hosted by The Wall Street Journal at Spring Studios in New York City.
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FuGuo bank One of its main regulators has lifted a key penalty related to its 2016 fake accounts scandal, the company said on Thursday.
The bank said in a statement release The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has terminated a consent order that forced it to change the way it sells retail products and services.
The bank’s shares rose more than 6% after the news broke.
Wells Fargo, one of the largest U.S. retail banks, has withdrawn six consent decrees since 2019, the year Chief Executive Charlie Scharf took over. There are eight remaining, the most notable of which is one from the Federal Reserve, which caps the bank’s asset size, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In a memo to employees, Schaaf called the development a “milestone” for the lender. 2016 Fake Account Scandal—Bank Admits Providing Funds to More Than 3 Million Customers Unauthorized accounts — sparking a wave of scrutiny that revealed problems related to mortgages, auto loans and other consumer account services.
The attention damaged the bank’s reputation and forced the retirement of former chief executive John Stumpf in 2016 and his successor Tim Sloan in 2019.
“The OCC’s action confirms that we have effectively implemented new systems, processes and controls to serve our customers differently than we did a decade ago,” Schaaf said. “We have a responsibility to ensure that we continue to comply with these discipline.”
RBC analyst Gerard Cassidy said in a research note on Thursday that the end of the OCC order “paved the way” for the Fed to eventually lift the asset cap.
—CNBC Leslie Peake contributed to this report.
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