Wells Fargo Won’t Catch A Break With Clinton

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton promised that Wells Fargo will be held accountable for its recent scandal and what she described as the bank’s “egregious corporate behavior.”

“Really shocking, isn’t it? One of the nation’s biggest banks bullying thousands of employees into committing fraud against unsuspecting customers,” Clinton recently told a crowd in Ohio, adding that she wants to “send a clear message to every boardroom and executive suite” that companies should be held responsible for scamming customers, exploiting employees or ripping off taxpayers.

Reuters reported on Monday (Oct. 3) that Clinton said that behavior such as the financial institution’s scandal — where the bank opened some 2 million accounts without customers’ approval or knowledge, all to hit sales targets — is harmful to consumers.

“We are not going to let companies like Wells Fargo use these fine-print gotchas to escape accountability,” Clinton stated.

Last month, Wells Fargo agreed to pay roughly $185 million to settle regulatory charges. A class-action case was also brought about by customers who accused the bank of fraud and recklessness. In the U.S. District Court in Utah, the plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for a class of hundreds of thousands of customers across the country.

Federal prosecutors continue to investigate Wells Fargo’s practices and the bank’s CEO, John Stumpf, testified before Congress.

“You should resign. You should give back the money you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told Stumpf, adding that the only way that banks will change their behavior is if CEOs serve jail time.

And though she was direct, she wasn’t alone. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) also called for Stumpf’s resignation, right before calling for the SEC to join the party and investigate on the grounds that the bank possibly violated internal control provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by failing to stop the “widespread fraud.”