Wells Fargo has been fined almost $4 billion for its role in mismanaging consumer loans for more than 16 million customers.
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered the banking behemoth to pay more than $2 billion to in consumer redress, and a $1.7 billion civil penalty. It is the biggest fine till date against any bank by the CFPB and the largest one against Wells. The bank has been fined against its role in misapplied loan payments, improper home foreclosures, illegally repossessed vehicles and surprise overdraft fees.
“Wells Fargo’s rinse-repeat cycle of violating the law has harmed millions of American families,” mentioned Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, in a statement.
CEO Charlie Scharf said, “As we have said before, we and our regulators have identified a series of unacceptable practices that we have been working systematically to change and provide customer remediation where warranted." Scharf added, "This far-reaching agreement is an important milestone in our work to transform the operating practices at Wells Fargo and to put these issues behind us.”