A Wells Fargo logo is seen at the SIBOS banking and financial conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 19, 2017. Picture taken October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
June 15, 2018
(Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co said on Friday a district court in California approved a $142 million class-action settlement to compensate customers who were affected by a sales scandal related to the opening of phony bank accounts.
The scandal came to light in September 2016 when the bank agreed to pay $185 million in penalties to settle charges by authorities including the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over creating, what it then said could be, as many as 2.1 million accounts in customers’ names without their permission.
Since then, it has discovered other problems in businesses ranging from mortgages to foreign exchange trading, while the number of possibly made-up accounts swelled to 3.5 million.
Wells Fargo executives have also appeared numerous times before the Senate banking committee and other federal bodies.
“(The approval)..is a significant step forward in making things right for our customers and further restoring trust with all of Wells Fargo’s stakeholders,” said Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan.
Existing and former customers will be able to submit claims through July 7, the San Franscisco-based bank said.
Wells Fargo’s shares were down 0.3 percent at $54.60 in premarket trading.
(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
