Elizabeth Warren wants Wells Fargo to dismiss his CEO. She wants the help of the Fed



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In a letter to the US Federal Reserve on Thursday, Warren said Sloan, a veteran of Wells Fargo for 30 years, is "deeply involved in the bank's blatant and flagrant actions."
Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who said he was considering running for president in 2020, urged the Fed to keep intact the assets cap imposed on Wells Fargo until Sloan was removed. The sanctions prevent Wells Fargo from increasing its balance sheet, a severe restriction for a bank in a booming economy.

The Fed's February sanctions require the bank to take a series of measures before the sanctions are lifted. Warren argued that Wells Fargo was unlikely to meet these requirements with Sloan in charge because he was a senior executive when the problem occurred.

"Mr. Sloan served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer when Wells Fargo engaged in this ongoing and widespread treatment of customers and employees," Warren said.

"Either he was aware of this misconduct and did nothing to stop it," he said, "or he did not know it despite his obligations as a leader of the company."

Congressional pressure comes after more than two years of scandals that rocked Wells Fargo. The third US bank admitted that its employees, under intense commercial pressure, had opened millions of false accounts. Wells Fargo also stated that it had charged customers auto insurance they did not need and unsecured mortgage fees. Employees accused Wells Fargo of retaliation after denouncing their behavior.
More recently, Wells Fargo started paying customers back for animal insurance and other products they did not understand perfectly. Wells Fargo also set aside $ 285 million to repay foreign currency and wealth management customers for incorrect pricing and fees. In August, Wells Fargo apologized for a computer problem that caused the seizure of hundreds of people from their homes.

"Wells Fargo is basically broken," wrote Warren. "Reports of new misconduct appear to appear every month."

A spokesman for the Federal Reserve said the central bank had received the letter and planned to respond to it.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said that he "continues to have a constructive dialogue" with the Fed to ensure that "we fully meet" the requirements.

The bank added that its "confident" efforts to "solve the problem with its customers" would help resolve the operational and risk management issues raised by the regulators.

Wells Fargo has made a series of changes over the past two years, including replacing long-time CEO John Stumpf, eliminating its notorious sales goals and repaying unpaid fees to customers. The bank has also launched a marketing campaign to repair its tattered image.
Sloan told analysts last week that Wells Fargo was considering complying with Fed sanctions "during the first part of next year".

The Fed's asset ceiling has a negative impact on Wells Fargo's business. The bank said business deposits had dropped in the last quarter partly due to efforts to "manage the asset ceiling".

Despite the strength of the economy, Wells Fargo announced a $ 40 billion decline in total deposits and a 1% decline in loans. Other major banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and PNC, have revealed an increase in loans and deposits.

Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group, does not believe that Warren, who has often criticized the bank, will convince the Fed to force Sloan to withdraw.

"That does not mean that the bank should keep its CEO," Seiberg wrote to his clients, "because it would be a lightning rod for critics if the Democrats took over the House."

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