Sloan also provides additional context to Company’s latest
quarterly SEC financial filing
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) CEO Tim Sloan today sent
the following companywide message to team members regarding Wells
Fargo’s second quarter Form 10-Q filing and updates on its
rebuilding trust efforts:
“Today we filed our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30. The
report details the strong financial results we generated for the
quarter, reflecting your hard work and commitment to fulfilling our
company’s vision of helping our customers succeed financially. The
filing, which became public just moments ago, also includes updates
on our rebuilding trust efforts that I would like to review with
you.
Rebuilding trust became our top priority when I became CEO last
October. That’s when we began our recovery from the reputation
damage we sustained from unacceptable retail sales practices in the
Community Bank. Since then, thousands of you have led a
transformation across our company that has demonstrated a
recommitment to our vision as we have improved our control
functions and risk management. At the same time, we have made
additional enhancements in our Community Bank, with new leadership,
new compensation programs, and a renewed focus on customers.
To regain the trust we have lost, we must continue to be
transparent with all our stakeholders and go beyond what has been
asked of us by our regulators by reviewing all of our
operations—leaving no stone unturned—so we can be confident we have
done all that we can do to build a better, stronger Wells
Fargo.
Today’s regulatory filing reminds us of this, because it
includes evidence of much of that work, particularly as we have
identified problems that we have committed to fix. Some of the
items identified already have been the subject of news reports,
such as the Collateral Protection Insurance issue in Dealer
Services.
Other items, though we have been working on them internally, are
newer to the public, such as a regulatory review into actions we
took to freeze, and in many cases close, consumer deposit accounts
after detecting suspected fraudulent activity (by third parties or
account holders) that affected those accounts.
The report also updates the public on the ongoing reviews we
have been conducting to identify customers who may have been harmed
by unwanted products or services resulting from unacceptable retail
bank sales practices, and summarizes the status of our preliminary
settlement agreement to support our customer remediation efforts.
These reviews are expected to be completed by the end of this
year’s third quarter, when we will be communicating with and
remediating more customers. If you know any customer with a
concern, you can help by encouraging them to meet with their
banker, so we may resolve their problem.
The filing also makes references to the settlement of a
longstanding lawsuit claiming that some Veterans Administration
(VA) mortgage refinance loans we originated should not have been
eligible for guarantees paid to us by the VA. The 2006 suit sought
compensation for claims paid by the VA after the loans defaulted.
We finalized this agreement today, and while we deny the
allegations, we have chosen to pay $108 million to the U.S.
government so we can put the matter behind us, avoid costly
litigation, and continue to focus on serving customers and
rebuilding trust.
Finally, our Form 10-Q filing also notes the work of our Board
of Directors, which is engaging in an ongoing comprehensive review
of its structure, composition and practices. The review is expected
to result in actions that the board will announce publicly in the
third quarter.
No doubt, other work lies ahead. That’s because, as I said in
October, rebuilding trust will take time, as we transform our
company’s operations to achieve our goal of leadership in customer
service and advice, team member engagement, innovation, risk
management, corporate citizenship and long-term shareholder
return.
Because there is so much interest in the work we are doing to
rebuild trust, we can expect more headlines as we fulfill our
commitment to identify and fix problems and make things right for
our customers. This is a lot of information, but such is our
commitment to you, our team members, and to our customers, our
investors, our regulators and the public. We want our stakeholders
to know about issues that we are committed to fixing. Today’s
quarterly report, as an example, identifies issues, even if the
final conclusions or outcomes for many are unknown at this
time.
It is hard work to build a better, stronger Wells Fargo. But it
is work that I know you are committed to do, because you serve our
customers with integrity, pride and passion. You do so, because you
believe in our vision and, like me, you want to continue to improve
and transform this treasured 165-year-old American institution.
This is why I am optimistic that our rebuilding trust efforts
will succeed. I have faith in your resiliency and your passion for
our customers. It’s truly a privilege to continue this journey with
you. Thank you.”
Additional details and perspective related to Wells Fargo’s
journey to make things right, fix problems and rebuild
trust—including a timeline of actions—are available at Wells Fargo
Stories.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified,
community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in
assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial
needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and
headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking,
insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial
finance through more than 8,500 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the
internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42
countries and territories to support customers who conduct business
in the global economy. With approximately 271,000 team members,
Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States.
Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017
rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and
perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo
Stories.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170804005632/en/
MediaPeter Gilchrist,
704-715-3213Peter.Gilchrist@wellsfargo.comorInvestorsJim
Rowe, 415-396-8216Jim.Rowe@wellsfargo.com
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