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.
