Wells Fargo Sales Tactics Are Reportedly Under Investigation By The Federal Reserve And Office Of The Comptroller Of The Currency

The lawsuit filed by Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and a group of deposit holders over Wells Fargo sales tactics seems to have gotten the attention of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the San Francisco Federal Reserve.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday the OCC and the San Francisco Federal Reserve are probing the bank’s practices, 

The lawsuit filed alleges bank employees opened unauthorized accounts. Then used other illegal tactics to meet rigid and unrealistic sales goals.

The lawsuit also claims that Wells Fargo employees were encouraged to “do whatever it takes” to meet sales goals.

The Wells Fargo shady sales tactics included withdrawing money from customers’ unauthorized accounts to pay Wells Fargo fees. Then placing customers into collections when the unauthorized withdrawals went unpaid.

Wells Fargo allegedly encouraged and rewarded Wells Fargo employees who pressured family and friends to sign up for bogus accounts.

The lawsuit points to a Wells Fargo brochure called “The Vision and Values of Wells Fargo.” The brochure states:

 Our average retail banking household has about six products with us. We want to get to eight … and beyond.

Feuer claims in the suit that:

In order to achieve its goal of selling a high number of ‘solutions’ to each customer, Wells Fargo imposes unrealistic sales quotas on its [California] employees and has adopted policies that have, predictably and naturally, driven its bankers to engage in fraudulent behavior to meet those unreachable goals.

According to the LA Times:

 An attorney representing Wells Fargo customers and former employees who have sued over Wells Fargo Shady Sales Tactics told The LA Times that representatives from the OCC have contacted his office about those cases.