Ethics At Wells Fargo

[eltf177]

It's beginning to look a lot like Enron...

We can only hope as many jail sentences are handed out here as were there...

[protege]

It's beginning to look a lot like Enron...

Yep, that's exactly what it's starting to look like. There's already a shitload of fraud allegations, constant denials, and a stream of executives ready to jump with their golden parachutes.

One point that hasn't been mentioned here--but has been on CNBC and in the WSJ, is that WF apparently charged people to protect their data...and then exploited the hell out of it for personal gains.

With that said, I don't think that WF will weather this storm. Many of you know that I work in the securities industry. Every so often, I have to take continuing education seminars...which are usually aimed at preventing situations like what Wells Fargo did. This shit is supposed to be taken seriously, and WF just did us all a HUGE disservice by doing what they did.

They'll eventually lose most of their customers because who wants to deal with a shady bank? I'm sure everyone remembers what happened to accounting firm Arthur Anderson, right? They went out of business during the Enron fiasco--they were caught cooking the books, destroying evidence all related to their auditing of Enron's financials. Doing so destroyed their reputation...and called into question their handling of their other clients--Worldcom (who also went bankrupt) being one of them.

[eltf177]

And Wells Fargo's troubles just keep piling up:

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/14/o...h-wells-fargo/

Ohio has joined Illinois and California in not doing business with Wells Fargo for one year.

I agree with Protege, with this many problems WF probably won't survive. They'll be sold to another bank at a huge loss but most of their customers will probably have bailed by that point...

[Tama]

And I bank with them too...I guess it's time to switch to BB&T?

[DGoddessChardonnay]

And I bank with them too...I guess it's time to switch to BB&T?

That's who I'm with now. BB&T seems to be on more solid ground than WF . . . and as of last week, have their consumer debit cards now available to use Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay.

You can visit BB&T's website and see what they have to offer before you make the switch to make sure they have products that meet your particular needs.

[Nunavut Pants]

They'll eventually lose most of their customers because who wants to deal with a shady bank?

All they have to do is offer marginally better rates than other banks, and people will stand in line to sign up. Look at the airline industry for an example.

People are cheap bastards. We complain about poor service, but when someone comes along offering even worse service but for a few pennies cheaper, most of us will jump right on that bandwagon.

[eltf177]

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/18/r...fraud-in-2007/

Ex-CEO John Stumpf said he only learned about the fake account mess in 2013, but apparently a letter was written to him about this back in 2007 when he first took over. There's no proof he ever saw it though, and you know he'll claim he never did...

Just another nail in the coffin...

[wolfie]

If their paperwork is such that he didn't get the warning that was sent to him, and he failed to correct the issue of non-delivered mail (surely if mail was going missing, at least one piece would be something someone was expecting, and they'd complain when it didn't arrive), he's incompetent. If he did get the warning, he's a liar. Either way, he shouldn't have been running the bank.

[protege]

Ex-CEO John Stumpf said he only learned about the fake account mess in 2013, but apparently a letter was written to him about this back in 2007 when he first took over. There's no proof he ever saw it though, and you know he'll claim he never did...

He's full of shit--that info came out during the hearings a few weeks ago. When it was brought up, he did everything he could think of to dodge or avoid answering the question about it. There's no doubt in my mind that he knew (and encouraged) what was going on...as long as the bank was making money, he and his buddies didn't give a crap. They were getting paid, and even if the truth did come out, they'd just blame local management...which also came out during the hearings.

[eltf177]

I agree, protege, he's lying and not fooling anyone. I honestly see Wells Fargo being broken up and sold off in pieces in the near future...

[eltf177]

And now Stumpf has resigned from the boards of both Target and Chevron...

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/18/e...hevron-target/

Love this line: "Chevron said in its announcement that 'Mr. Stumpf resigned for personal reasons and not as a result of a disagreement with Chevron.' That’s good to hear, even if we have a good idea of what those personal reasons are."

[EricKei]

Regarding the CEO's compensation and -- no doubt -- money woes ...He reportedly just happened to sell off something like sixty million bucks worth of stock very shortly before this stuff all went public.

[Javarod]

And it just got worse for them:

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/20/c...dentity-theft/

CA is investigating them for identity theft, but wait, there's more

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/20/b...ccount-fiasco/

They also lost their accreditation at the BBB

If I had an account of any type at Wells Fargo, I'd be finding a way to move it right now

[eltf177]

It's interesting that all these stories are coming to light now. And you KNOW there will be more as this scandal continues to unfold.

Wells Fargo is in GIGANTIC trouble at this point...

[eltf177]

And I spoke too soon...

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/21/w...acks-shingles/

"Wells Fargo employees caught up in the bank’s fake account fiasco lost more than their jobs if they did or didn’t meet sales goals: they also say they suffered physically and emotionally from the pressure placed on them by management to 'sell, sell, sell.'”

This can only help their lawsuit and show just how management there functioned...

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/20/b...ccount-fiasco/

"Following the “retirement” of its CEO John Stumpf, news of a criminal investigation of identity theft, and numerous rounds of questioning by lawmakers, comes news that the financial institution has been stripped of its Better Business Bureau accreditation. "

Another black eye, this won't be easy to recover from...

https://consumerist.com/2016/10/20/c...dentity-theft/

"...It’s recently become public that the state of California is conducting a criminal investigation against Wells Fargo for identity theft. Earlier this month, the state served a search warrant on the bank, which asks for information about customers with fake accounts, and the identities of the bankers who opened those accounts.

The statement of probable cause for the search warrant points out that employees had to access some pieces of customer information without the customers’ permission, using parts of the company’s computer systems that they weren’t supposed to."

Anybody else thinking this will NOT end well?