It’s justice served on a BILLIONS-dollar scale! After many hardworking Americans were wronged, the bank is literally paying the consequences by paying back BILLIONS of dollars. This action reaffirms the commitment to ensure that justice is done and that fair treatment of all people is priority number one.
Wells Fargo has recently been held accountable for a number of serious financial infractions concerning mortgages and consumer accounts, resulting in the bank officially agreeing to pay both $1.7 billion in civil penalties and $2 billion in redress. This should likely have multiple wide-reaching impacts on how Wells Fargo functions and conducts its business from here on out, with expectations that the company will not only abide by all relevant regulations but also ensure that customers are fully protected when dealing with the bank’s services.
Daily Wire reports, After engaging in a number of abuses with mortgages and consumer accounts, Wells Fargo will pay $1.7 billion in civil penalties and $2 billion in redress.
Reuters reports on how this could affect the bank.
A $3.7 billion fine is the largest ever imposed by the agency.
Rising inflation and interest rates are causing consumer debt defaults to increase. The number of people behind on their car payments has approached pre-recession levels, while defaults for low-income consumers have soared past levels seen in 2019.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra characterized Wells Fargo as a “repeat offender,” as the bank agreed to pay $3 billion in February 2020 after employees were pressured to meet unrealistic sales targets that led tens of thousands of employees to provide millions of accounts and products to customers without their consent, often by creating false records.
According to a New York Times report earlier this year, Wells Fargo executives conducted fake interviews with women and minorities to meet diversity, equity, and inclusion targets.
A Department of Labor claim asserting that the bank discriminated against more than 34,000 African-American applicants for banking, customer sales, and administrative support positions, and more than 300 female applicants for administrative support positions, was settled by the company in August 2020 for $7.8 million.
Our banking system is in a dangerous state if financial giants are repeatedly able to break the law without consequence. Each time one of these powerful institutions is caught red-handed, they are afforded another slap on the wrist. Without actual punishment that fits the severity of their offenses, how can we be expected to trust them? Business as usual simply cannot continue without significant reforms to better hold these banks accountable. We must demand new laws and regulations that send a clear message: repeated wrong doings should have real consequences. Anything less not only insults our intelligence, but also erodes a fundamental trust between businesses and those who depend on their services.
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