Wells Fargo to Pay $3.7B for Mistreating Clients

The bank set aside $2 billion in the third quarter to cover a variety of regulatory and legal issues, including making harmed customers whole. Scharf warned in October that the charge “isn’t the end of it.”

Chopra has previously vowed to make punishments of large firms more painful. In 2016, the agency fined San Francisco-based Wells Fargo $100 million for opening accounts without customers’ permission. In 2018, the agency imposed a $1 billion sanction for additional misconduct, but gave the bank a $500 million credit for a concurrent settlement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Chopra, appointed by President Joe Biden, is under pressure from progressives in the Democratic party to reinvigorate the consumer watchdog, which they say pulled back from tougher policy making and enforcement under former Republican President Donald Trump.

(Image: Bloomberg)