Wells Fargo Board Directors Expected to Be Re-Elected, but Vote Is Close

By David Benoit and Emily Glazer

Wells Fargo & Co.'s shareholders are expected to re-elect all of the bank's directors in a pitched contest over the board that resulted from last fall's sales-practices scandal, according to people familiar with the matter. But levels of support for some directors are likely to be uncomfortably low, sending a message to the bank that shareholders seek further change at the bank.

The bank is scheduled to release the result of the shareholder vote on directors at its annual shareholders meeting, to be held Tuesday morning. The bank and its 15 board directors were on edge through the night and early morning as key institutional shareholders placed their votes, people familiar with the process said.

Some votes were still coming in Tuesday morning, meaning vote tallies could still shift, the person familiar with the matter said. Although the shareholder meeting begins at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday, the technical deadline for casting votes is when the meeting ends.

While the re-election of directors, if confirmed, will be a relief for the bank, the likelihood that at least some board members will receive below 60% of votes cast is concerning. Directors, who usually run unopposed, typically receive more than 95% or more of the votes cast.

Write to David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com and Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2017 09:31 ET (13:31 GMT)

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