Wells Fargo to Pay Off a Hefty Sum
The American banks are seemingly on a losing streak. While the Silvergate, Signature, and the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March, Wells Fargo is ready to pay $1 billion to settle a customer mistreatment case.
Wells Fargo & Co has agreed to pay $1 billion to settle a lawsuit in order to avoid costly litigation and preserve its reputation marred by a series of customer-related scandals.
The bank has been accused of defrauding shareholders and mistreating them. The shareholders said that Wells Fargo was overstating their compliance with different orders from the Federal Reserve and two other financial regulators.
They also said that the institution's market value decreased by over $54 billion in the course of two years ending in March 2020.
Although Wells Fargo & Co maintains that it has not engaged in any wrongful actions, it has nevertheless opted to settle the case.
"While we disagree with the allegations in this case, we are pleased to have resolved this matter," Wells Fargo said in a statement.
The bank’s new chief executive Charlie Scharf says that the bank is still in the middle of fixing the issues.
"When I arrived, we did not have the culture, effective processes, or appropriate management oversight in place to remediate weaknesses on a timely basis," he said. "Today, we approach these issues differently."
U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods in Manhattan granted her preliminary approval of the settlement. The final hearing will be held on Sept.8, 2023.
Since 2016, the bank has paid or set aside billions of dollars in order to resolve different legal matters, such as its decision to open 3.5 million accounts without customer permission. And charging hundreds of thousands of borrowers for auto insurance, they never required.
Previously, Gagarin News reported that Samsung and the Bank of Korea joined forces on CBDC.
