Wells Fargo agrees to $3.7 billion settlement with CFPB over consumer abuses
Last edited Tue Dec 20, 2022, 10:46 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: CNBC
Wells Fargo agreed to a $3.7 billion settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over customer abuses tied to bank accounts, mortgages and auto loans, the regulator said Tuesday. The bank was ordered to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty and “more than $2 billion in redress to consumers,” the CFPB said in a statement.
In a separate statement, the San Francisco-based company said that many of the “required actions” tied to the settlement were already done. “The bank’s illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for thousands of customers, the loss of their vehicles and homes,” the agency said in its release. “Consumers were illegally assessed fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, had their cars wrongly repossessed, and had payments to auto and mortgage loans misapplied by the bank.”
The resolution lifts one overhang for the bank, which has been led by CEO Charlie Scharf since October 2019. In October, the bank set aside $2 billion for legal, regulatory and customer remediation matters, igniting speculation that a settlement was nearing. But other regulatory hurdles remain: Wells Fargo is still operating under consent orders tied to its 2016 fake accounts scandal, including one from the Fed that caps its asset growth.
Furthermore, the bank said that fourth-quarter expenses would include a $3.5 billion operating loss, or $2.8 billion after taxes, from the incremental costs of the CFPB civil penalty and customer remediation efforts, as well as other legal matters. The bank is still expected to post an overall profit when it reports results in mid January, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/20/wells-fargo-agrees-to-3point7-billion-settlement-with-cfpb-over-consumer-abuses.html
Article updated.
Original article -
The bank was ordered to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty and “more than $2 billion in redress to consumers,” the CFPB said in a statement.
“The bank’s illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for thousands of customers, the loss of their vehicles and homes,” the agency said in its release. “Consumers were illegally assessed fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, had their cars wrongly repossessed, and had payments to auto and mortgage loans misapplied by the bank.”
“Wells Fargo’s rinse-repeat cycle of violating the law has harmed millions of American families,” Rohit Chopra, head of the CFPB, said in the release. “The CFPB is ordering Wells Fargo to refund billions of dollars to consumers across the country. This is an important initial step for accountability and long-term reform of this repeat offender.”
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
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Racketeering. As everyone else has said, it just goes on and on. Fines and settlements are just part of their annual budgets.
I lost my farm to these assholes in Calif. Two years later, I received a $500, "settlement," from them for supposedly working on a loan modification, but also foreclosure at the same time.
