OCC Imposes Civil Money Penalties Against Three Former Executives of Wells Fargo
WASHINGTONâThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today
announced enforcement actions against three former senior executives
of Wells Fargo Bank, N. A. , Sioux Falls, South Dakota (bank). These
actions were taken in response to the former executivesâ unsafe or
unsound banking practices related to the bankâs systemic and
widespread sales practices misconduct.
The enforcement
actions are described in two written decisions issued by Acting
Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu, covering Claudia Russ
Anderson and jointly covering David Julian and Paul McLinko, as
follows:
The decision covering Ms. Anderson found that from
2013 to 2016, she failed to credibly challenge the bankâs incentive
compensation program, failed to institute effective controls to manage
risks posed by sales practices misconduct, failed to escalate known or
obvious risks, and repeatedly and consistently downplayed the sales
practices misconduct. The decision also noted that Ms. Anderson
committed violations of law by failing to provide information or
providing false, incomplete, or misleading information to the OCC
during its 2015 examinations.
A separate decision concluded
that during the same period, Mr. Julian and Mr. McLinko failed to plan
and manage audit activity that would detect and document sales
practices misconduct and failed to adequately escalate the sales
practices misconduct. Mr. McLinko also failed to maintain professional
independence from the Community Bank, the Bankâs largest business
line that housed the retail branches.
The decisions issued
today explained that under pressure to meet unreasonable sales goals,
thousands of employees at the bank engaged in widespread sales
practices misconduct.
Todayâs written decisions and orders
stem from the Notice of Charges the OCC filed in January 2020, which
began the administrative litigation. An Administrative Law Judge
issued three recommended decisions in December 2022 following a 38-day
administrative hearing. These are the remaining outstanding
enforcement actions among those that the OCC pursued against 11
individuals related to the bankâs systemic and widespread sales
practices misconduct. The OCC previously reached resolution with eight
other former Wells Fargo senior bank executives, resulting in their
payment of civil money penalties totaling $43,175,000. Related Links