History
Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, who founded American Express along with John Butterfield, formed Wells Fargo & Company in 1852 to provide "express" and banking services to California, which was growing rapidly due to theEnvironmental record
In 2009, Wells Fargo ranked 1st among banks and insurance companies, and 13th overall, in Newsweek Magazine's inaugural "Green Rankings" of the country's 500 largest companies. In 2013, the company was recognized by the EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership as a Climate Leadership Award winner, in the category "Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Setting Certificate)"; this recognition was for the company's aim to reduce its absoluteWells Fargo History Museum
The company operates the Wells Fargo History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. Displays include original stagecoaches, photographs, gold nuggets and mining artifacts, the Pony Express,Operations and services
Consumer Banking and Lending
The Consumer Banking and Lending segment includes Regional Banking, Diversified Products, and Consumer Deposits groups, as well as Wells Fargo Customer Connection (formerly Wells Fargo Phone Bank, Wachovia Direct Access, the National Business Banking Center, and Credit Card Customer Service). Wells Fargo also has around 2,000 stand-alone mortgage branches throughout the country. There are also mini-branches located inside of other buildings, which are almost exclusively grocery stores, that usually contain ATMs, basicConsumer lending
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is the second largest retail mortgage originator in the United States, originating one out of every four home loans. Wells Fargo services $1.8 trillion in home mortgages, the one of the largest servicing portfolios in the US.Equipment lending
Wells Fargo has various divisions, including Wells Fargo Rail, that finance and lease equipment to different types of companies.Wealth and Investment Management
Wells Fargo offers investment products through its subsidiaries, Wells Fargo Investments, LLC, and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, as well as through national broker/dealer firms. The company also serves high-net-worth individuals through itsSecurities
Wells Fargo Securities (WFS) is the investment banking division of Wells Fargo & Co. headquartered in Charlotte, with other U.S. offices in New York, Minneapolis, Boston, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles and with international offices in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. Wells Fargo Securities was established in 2009 after the acquisition of Wachovia Securities. It provides sales and trading, fixed income, FX and rates, equity, merger and acquisition, high yield, leveraged finance, equity underwriting, private placement,Cross-selling
A key part of Wells Fargo's business strategy isInternational operations
Wells Fargo has banking services throughout the world, with overseas offices in Hong Kong, London,Charter
Wells Fargo operates under Charter #1, the first national bankLawsuits, fines and controversies
1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal
In 1981, it was discovered that a Wells Fargo assistant operations officer, Lloyd Benjamin "Ben" Lewis, had perpetrated one of the largest embezzlements in history, through its Beverly Drive branch. During 1978 - 1981, Lewis had successfully written phony debit and credit receipts to benefitHigher costs charged to African-American and Hispanic borrowers
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit against Wells Fargo on July 31, 2009, alleging that the bank steersFailure to monitor suspected money laundering
In a March 2010 agreement with US federal prosecutors, Wells Fargo acknowledged that between 2004 and 2007Overdraft fees
In August 2010, Wells Fargo was fined by United States district court judgeSettlement and fines regarding mortgage servicing practices
On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (SEC fine due to inadequate risk disclosures
On August 14, 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay around $6.5 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that in 2007 it sold risky mortgage-backed securities without fully realizing their dangers.Lawsuit by FHA over loan underwriting
In 2016, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle allegations that the company violated theLawsuit due to premium inflation on forced place insurance
In April 2013, Wells Fargo settled a suit with 24,000 Florida homeowners alongside insurer QBE Insurance, in which Wells Fargo was accused of inflating premiums on forced-place insurance.Lawsuit regarding excessive overdraft fees
In May 2013, Wells Fargo paid $203 million to settle class-action litigation accusing the bank of imposing excessiveViolation of New York credit card laws
In February 2015, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $4 million, including a $2 million penalty and $2 million in restitution for illegally taking an interest in the homes of borrowers in exchange for opening credit card accounts for the homeowners.Tax liability and lobbying
In December 2011, Public Campaign criticized Wells Fargo for spending $11 million onPrison industry investment
The company has invested its clients' funds inDiscrimination against African Americans in hiring
In August 2020, the company agreed to pay $7.8 million in back wages for allegedly discriminating against 34,193 African Americans in hiring for tellers, personal bankers, customer sales and service representatives, and administrative support positions. The company agreed to provide jobs to 580 of the affected applicants.SEC settlement for insider trading case
In May 2015, Gregory T. Bolan Jr., a stock analyst at Wells Fargo agreed to pay $75,000 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations that he gave Joseph C. Ruggieri, a stock trader, insider information on probable ratings charges. Ruggieri was not convicted of any crime.Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal
In September 2016, Wells Fargo was issued a combined total of $185 million in fines for opening over 1.5 million checking and savings accounts and 500,000 credit cards on behalf of customers without their consent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued $100 million in fines, the largest in the agency's five-year history, along with $50 million in fines from the City and County of Los Angeles, and $35 million in fines from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency. The scandal was caused by an incentive-compensation program for employees to create new accounts. It led to the firing of nearly 5,300 employees and $5 million being set aside for customer refunds on fees for accounts the customers never wanted.Racketeering lawsuit for mortgage appraisal overcharges
In November 2016, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $50 million to settle allegations of overcharging hundreds of thousands of homeowners for appraisals ordered after they defaulted on their mortgage loans. While banks are allowed to charge homeowners for such appraisals, Wells Fargo frequently charged homeowners $95 to $125 on appraisals for which the bank had been charged $50 or less. The plaintiffs had sought triple damages under the U.S.Financing of Dakota Access Pipeline
Wells Fargo is a lender on the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile-long (1,886 km) underground oilFailure to comply with document security requirements
In December 2016, theDoing business with the gun industry and NRA
From December 2012 through February 2018, Wells Fargo reportedly helped two of the biggest firearms and ammunition companies obtain $431.1 million in loans. It also handled banking for the National Rifle Association and provided bank accounts and a $28-million line of credit. In 2020, the company said that it is winding down its business with the National Rifle Association.Discrimination against female workers
In June 2018, about a dozen female Wells Fargo executives from the wealth management division met in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss the minimal presence of women occupying senior roles within the company. The meeting, dubbed "the meeting of 12", represented the majority of the regional managing directors, of which 12 out of 45 were women. Wells Fargo had previously been investigating reports of gender bias in the division in the months leading up to the meeting. The women reported that they had been turned down for top jobs despite their qualifications, and instead the roles were occupied by men. There were also complaints against company president Jay Welker, who is also the head of the Wells Fargo wealth management division, due to his sexist statements regarding female employees. The female workers claimed that he called them "girls" and said that they "should be at home taking care of their children."Overselling auto insurance
On June 10, 2019, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $385 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of allegedly scamming millions of auto-loan customers into buying insurance they did not need fromFailure to Supervise Registered Representatives
On August 28, 2020, Wells Fargo agreed to pay a fine of $350,000 as well as $10 million in restitution payments to certain customers after theSteering customers to more expensive retirement accounts
In April 2018, the United States Department of Labor launched a probe into whether Wells Fargo was pushing its customers into more expensiveAlteration of documents
In May 2018, the company discovered that its business banking group had improperly altered documents about business clients in 2017 and early 2018.Executive compensation
With CEO John Stumpf paid 473 times more than the median employee, Wells Fargo ranked number 33 among the S&P 500 companies for CEO—employee pay inequality. In October 2014, a Wells Fargo employee earning $15 per hour emailed the CEO—copying 200,000 other employees—asking that all employees be given a $10,000 per year raise taken from a portion of annual corporate profits to address wage stagnation and income inequality. After being contacted by the media, Wells Fargo responded that all employees receive "market competitive" pay and benefits significantly above US federal minimums. Pursuant to Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, publicly traded companies are required to disclose (1) the median total annual compensation of all employees other than the CEO and (2) the ratio of the CEO's annual total compensation to that of the median employee.Fine due to consumer banking violation
Well's fargo was heavily fined due to evident wrong records of customer payments on home and auto loans. The bank had to pay $3.7 billion to resolve claims which harmed millions of customers.Carbon footprint
Wells Fargo & Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 776 Kt (-87 /-10.1% y-o-y).Alt URLIn popular culture
Wells Fargo stagecoaches are mentioned in the song " The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!)" in the 1953 film ''Charity
On March 2, 2022, Wells Fargo announced $1 mil donation to the American Red Cross that will be used for Ukrainian refugees fleeing from the Russian invasion. In April 2022, The Wells Fargo foundation announced its pledge of $210 million toward racial equity in homeownership. With $60 million of the donation awarded in Wealth Opportunities Restored through Homeownership (WORTH) grants which will run until 2025. Additionally, $150 million will be committed to lower mortgage rates and reducing the refinancing costs to aid minority homeowners.See also
*References
External links
* {{Authority control 1852 establishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1852 Banks based in California Banks established in 1852 Companies based in San Francisco Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Financial District, San Francisco Mortgage lenders of the United States Online brokerages Systemically important financial institutions