The issue of reimbursement came up during Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing, when lawmakers including Jon Tester grilled Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf about the possible ripple effects of unauthorized accounts that bank employees set up to help meet sales goals. Jon Tester, D-Montana, called a truly rare display of bipartisan unity for the committee.
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In response to the senators’ request to the DOL, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Jennifer G. Dunn told ABC News today that “our team members are our greatest asset”. According to his prepared remarks reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said the enforcement case against Wells Fargo highlighted that the agency must continue to improve and refine its supervisory program, by sharpening early-warning processes and enhancing capabilities.
The letter, helmed by Sen.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, encouraged Stumpf to “make certain that the employees are not the scapegoat for behavior at higher levels”. The New Jersey man called an ethics hotline and sent an email to human resources in September 2013, flagging unethical sales activities he was being instructed to do. “It looks like there’s been a awful breakdown of checks and balances at Wells Fargo”.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined the company on Sept.8 for $100 million alleging unlawful sales practices. The root cause of this pressure on Wells Fargo employees was the bank’s corporate culture, and a cross-selling target of at least eight financial products per customer.
In an answer to a question, he declined to commit to setting aside mandatory arbitration agreements that prohibit clients from suing Wells Fargo.
The San Francisco Fed said Thursday that John Stumpf is giving up his position as representative from the central bank’s San Francisco region on the advisory council.
Wells Fargo is embroiled in a scandal over assertions that bank employees opened accounts without customers’ authorization. “When quotas weren’t met, employees faced threats of termination; mandated hours of unpaid overtime; harassment; and other forms of retaliation”.
An ex-employee working in Wells Fargo’s human resources department told CNN Money the bank had a method in place to retaliate against tipsters.
The senators then suggest that the Wells Fargo employees were forced to work overtime but did not receive overtime pay.
Under fire, Stumpf said he has told his managers to do “whatever it takes” to make customers whole, refunding fees or compensating them for damage to their credit ratings.
Under the settlement with regulators, Wells Fargo neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
If you think an account was opened without your permission, you should be able to find all accounts under your name by logging into the Wells Fargo site. “This is stealing from their own customers”.
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And here’s a little tidbit the senior senator from MA undoubtedly would have like to have in response to Stumpf’s testimony that Wells employees are “encouraged to raise their hands”, and to inquire whether he wants “to hear from them” so that he can make sure he stops hearing from them.
