This new investigation by Federal prosecutors come in the wake Wells Fargo settling a probe with $190 million wherein it has neither acknowledged nor denied any act of wrong doing.
As per a source who is familiar with the matter at hand, U.S. prosecutors have begin investigating Well Fargo & Co.’s sales practices that earlier led the bank to agree to a $190 million settlement deal with regulators.
On Sept 8, following an investigation by the U.S. Attorneys’ Office, Wells Fargo announced a settlement over claims that it pushed some of its customers into fee-generating accountings which they didn’t need, was beneficial to them nor was requested by them.
When asked to respond to requests for comments, Wells Fargo declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan also declined to comment.
“We don’t comment on the existence or non-existence of any investigation,” said Abraham Simmons, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco.
We had reported news of this investigation earlier.
The probes by federal prosecutors are likely to be a major headache for Wells Fargo. Allegations of its staff opening two million accounts and credit cards for customers without their consent so as to meet internal sales goal have of-late rocked their boat.
Only last week, Wells Fargo agreed to shell out $185 million in penalties and has agreed to pay $5 million to customers. So as to clean up this mess, Wells Fargo has fired 5.300 employees over their sales conduct.
Significantly in the settlement, Wells Fargo neither admitted nor denied allegations of any wrong-doing.
John Stumpf, Well Fargo’s CEO, provided an apology earlier this week on Tuesday saying the management takes responsibility for the problems that have been identified in the settlement.
It is to be noted that although Wells Fargo has eliminated sales goals for its retail staff, Stumpf has said “cross-selling” products from various businesses to customers is still important since it is a key component for expanding its business.
Categories: Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Regulations & Legal, Strategy
manageria.biz 
Leave a comment