US Federal Reserve removes Restrictions on Wells Fargo

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced that Wells Fargo is no longer subject to the asset growth restriction from the Board’s 2018 enforcement action against the bank. The Federal Reserve determined that Wells Fargo has met all the conditions required by the 2018 enforcement action for removal of the growth restriction.

Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important financial institution according to the Financial Stability Board, and is considered one of the “Big Four Banks” in the United States, alongside JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

Under the 2018 enforcement action, the bank was required to improve its governance and risk management program, and complete a third-party review of these improvements, for the growth restriction to be removed.

The Federal Reserve has completed its review of the bank’s remediation efforts and required third-party assessments, and has completed its own assessment of Wells Fargo’s corporate governance and firmwide risk management programs. The removal of the growth restriction reflects the substantial progress the bank has made in addressing its deficiencies and that the bank has fulfilled the conditions required for removal of the growth restriction. The other provisions in the 2018 enforcement action will remain in place until the bank satisfies the requirements for their termination.

2018 Action on Wells Fargo

Responding to recent and widespread consumer abuses and other compliance breakdowns by Wells Fargo, the Federal Reserve Board had announced that it would restrict the growth of the firm until it sufficiently improves its governance and controls. Concurrently with the Board’s action, Wells Fargo will replace three current board members by April and a fourth board member by the end of the year.

In addition to the growth restriction, the Board’s consent cease and desist order with Wells Fargo requires the firm to improve its governance and risk management processes, including strengthening the effectiveness of oversight by its board of directors. Until the firm makes sufficient improvements, it will be restricted from growing any larger than its total asset size as of the end of 2017. The Board required each current director to sign the cease and desist order.

The enforcement action ensured that Wells Fargo will not expand until it is able to do so safely and with the protections needed to manage all of its risks and protect its customers.”

In recent years, Wells Fargo pursued a business strategy that prioritized its overall growth without ensuring appropriate management of all key risks. The firm did not have an effective firm-wide risk management framework in place that covered all key risks. This prevented the proper escalation of serious compliance breakdowns to the board of directors.

The Board’s action restricted Wells Fargo’s growth until its governance and risk management sufficiently improves but will not require the firm to cease current activities, including accepting customer deposits or making consumer loans.

Emphasizing the need for improved director oversight of the firm, the Board sent letters to each current Wells Fargo board member confirming that the firm’s board of directors, during the period of compliance breakdowns, did not meet supervisory expectations. Letters were also sent to former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf and past lead independent director Stephen Sanger stating that their performance in those roles, in particular, did not meet the Federal Reserve’s expectations.