Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) announced today that it will pay $2.09
billion to resolve a previously disclosed investigation by the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding claims related to certain 2005–07
residential mortgage-backed securities activities.
“We are pleased to put behind us these legacy issues regarding claims
related to residential mortgage-backed securities activities that
occurred more than a decade ago,” said Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan. “Wells
Fargo remains focused on our important role as one of the nation’s
leading providers of mortgage financing and on our commitment to
expanding sustainable homeownership opportunities for our customers.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Wells Fargo, without admitting
liability, will pay a civil monetary penalty to resolve all civil claims
available to the U.S. government under the Financial Institutions
Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 for covered activities.
The U.S. has also agreed to release Wells Fargo from any potential
claims arising under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (RICO), the
Injunctions against Fraud Act and on certain other grounds. Importantly,
there were no claims that individual customers were harmed as a result
of the alleged conduct. The DOJ has previously reached agreements with a
number of other banks to resolve similar RMBS issues.
The amount of the settlement was fully accrued as of June 30, 2018.
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, investments, mortgage, and consumer and
commercial finance through 8,050 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet
(wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 38 countries and
territories to support customers who conduct business in the global
economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one
in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was
ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest
corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also
available at Wells Fargo Stories.
Cautionary Statement about Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements about our future
financial performance and business. Because forward-looking statements
are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the
future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not
unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ
materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect
changes or events that occur after that date. For information about
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our
expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the “Forward-Looking Statements”
discussion in Wells Fargo’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as
well as to Wells Fargo’s other reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” in
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017,
available on its website at www.sec.gov.
