Wells Fargo commits to enhancing financial crime risk detection following regulatory agreement, shares rise 2.4%. (Shutterstock)
- Agreement requires Wells Fargo to improve compliance with Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions programs.
- Bank must maintain compliance committee with majority non-employee members to oversee corrective actions.
- Wells Fargo shares up 8% since February when regulators lifted 8-year restrictions stemming from past scandals.
Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
NEW YORK – Wells Fargo has agreed to work with U.S. bank regulators to shore up its financial crimes risk management, including internal controls related to suspicious activity and money laundering.
Wells Fargo shares rose 2.4% Friday.
The agreement comes just seven months after the Biden Administration lifted a consent order on the bank that had been in place since 2016 following a series of scandals, including the opening of fake customer accounts.
Related Story: How Much Will Interest Rates Drop? Wells Fargo Expert Predicts a Sharp Decline ...
OCC Identifies Deficiencies in Risk Management
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it had identified “deficiencies relating to the bank’s financial crimes risk management practices and anti-money laundering internal controls in several areas.”
The list included suspicious activity, currency transaction reporting and customer due diligence, among other things.
The agreement announced this week requires the bank to take “comprehensive corrective actions” to improve compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions programs.
“We have been working to address a substantial portion of what’s required in the formal agreement, and we are committed to completing the work with the same sense of urgency as our other regulatory commitments,” the bank said in a release.
Related Story: Reedley on List of Cities Losing BofA Bank Branches
Board Compliance Committee Required
The bank’s board of directors, under the agreement, must maintain a compliance committee of at least three members, the majority of which cannot be employees or officers of the bank and its subsidiaries. The committee is expected to submit a report to the board after every quarter outlining the “specific corrective actions” the bank has taken, the results of those actions and any additional actions it feels need to be taken to meet compliance.
A series of newspaper and government investigations in 2016 found Wells to have a poisonous sales culture that pressured employees into selling unwanted or unneeded products to customers. Employees were forced to open millions of unauthorized accounts and some customers had their identities stolen and credit scores impacted.
The scandal tarnished the reputation of the San Francisco bank, which analysts and investors considered one of the nation’s best.
Wells Fargo overhauled its board of directors and management, paid more than a billion dollars in fines and penalties and spent eight years trying to show the public that the bad practices were a thing of the past.
Shares of Wells Fargo are up more than 8% since regulators lifted the 8-year restrictions on the bank in February and rose to $52.47 Friday.
RELATED TOPICS:
In a Calendar Rarity, Hanukkah Starts This Year on Christmas Day
12 hours ago
A Look at the $100 Billion in Disaster Relief in the Government Spending Bill
12 hours ago
It’s Eggnog Season. The Boozy Beverage Dates Back to Medieval England but Remains a Holiday Hit
12 hours ago
9-Year-Old Among 5 Killed in Christmas Market Attack in Germany
12 hours ago
This French Bulldog Is So Fetch: Meet Toaster Strudel
14 hours ago
The Fed Expects to Cut Rates More Slowly in 2025. What That Could Mean for Mortgages, Debt and More
17 hours ago
Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran