Skip to content

Carrier Management

Critical Information for P/C Carrier Executives

Highlights

  • The Good Neighbor
  • What Progressive and GEICO Q3 Results Reveal About Auto ...
  • The Power of the First Offer
  • Carrier Management
  • C-Suite
  • News
  • Research
  • Leadership
  • Markets
  • Regulation
  • Top 50
  • Members Only
  • Join
  • Login
  • Boardroom Agenda
  • CEO / Chief Executive
  • CFO / Financial
  • Underwriting
  • CTO / Technology
  • Risk
  • Brand Management & Sales
  • Investment Officers
  • Claims / Legal
  • Talent Management
Cannabis Businesses Face Hurdles Accessing Big Banks Despite Reclassification
Artificial Intelligence Is Rewriting the Rules for Commercial Lines
  • U.S.
  • International
  • Industry News
  • Government
  • Technology & Science
Deceptive Self-Driving Claims Prompt California to Threaten Tesla With 30-Day Sales License Suspension
AIG Partners With Amwins, Blackstone to Launch Lloyd’s Syndicate Using Palantir

See all News

  • Executive Spotlight
  • Innovation
  • Strategy
  • Leadership
  • Performance
  • Growth Initiatives
  • Social Responsibility
The Hardest Part of Innovation in Insurance Isn’t Technology; It’s Culture
A Practical Blueprint: The Five Plays of an Innovation Culture
  • Reinsurance
  • Emerging Markets
  • Global Economy
  • Personal Lines
  • Commercial Lines
  • Specialty
Poorer Americans Dropped Federal Flood Insurance When Rates Rose
Unpacking a Consumer Intervenor’s Novel Idea
  • Insurance Regulation
  • Securities Regulation
  • Accounting & Tax
  • Rating Agencies
Trump Signs Order Seeking to Limit State-Level AI Regulation
What to Expect in 2026: U.S. P/C Results More Like 2024
Chubb, The Hartford, Liberty and Travelers Team Up on Surety Tech Co. Launch
Texas ID Restrictions Could Prevent Illegal Immigrants in U.S. From Buying, Registering Vehicles
Why Insurance Telematics Integrations Fail
The Good Neighbor

See all Top 50

Examining 5 Key Factors Fueling MGA Growth—and Emerging Challenges Ahead
Rebuilding Negotiation Talent: Why This Skill Is Missing and How to Fix It
AI in Property/Casualty Insurance: Why Trusted Data Is the Missing Link
The Future of Knowledge in Insurance: From Training to AI-Powered Productivity

See all Members Only Content

Benefits

  • News for the P/C Insurance C-Suite - Focused reporting from reliable sources and experienced financial journalists.
  • Research and Analysis Not Found Elsewhere - Exclusive content from researchers think tanks, industry experts and respected analysts.
  • High-Profile Peers - Interviews with thought leaders in the global and U.S. insurance industry.

Online Access

Complete, unrestricted access to the popular CarrierManagement.com website, which provides insurance company C-suite executives with daily news, white papers, advice, instruction and editorial on how to manage insurance companies more efficiently and more effectively.

Wells Fargo Believes Customers Properly Reimbursed in Fake Account Scandal

Print Email
January 13, 2017 by Dan Freed and Michael Erman

Wells Fargo & Co, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, said on Friday it believes it has reimbursed the customers it needs to in order to comply with at least one of three settlements over a bogus-accounts scandal.

The San Francisco-based bank has been dealing with multiple lawsuits and a sharp drop in account openings after it settled with the Los Angeles City Attorney, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in September over charges that its employees created 2 million accounts without customers’ consent.

Chief Executive Timothy Sloan – who took over after John Stumpf resigned in the wake of the scandal – said he was pleased with the progress the bank has made in customer remediation, as well as its ongoing review of sales practices across the company.

The bank disclosed the new details as it posted its fifth straight decline in quarterly earnings on Friday, results that diverged from rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp. Both posted significantly higher earnings on Friday on the back of higher interest rates and market gains since the U.S. election in November.

Net income applicable to shareholders fell 6.4 percent to $4.87 billion, or 96 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, from $5.20 billion, or $1.00 per share, a year earlier.

It said it has made $3.2 million of refunds for potentially unauthorized accounts that incurred fees and charges, which it believes fulfills its repayment requirements under the settlement to the L.A. City Attorney.

It could not be determined whether the bank has reimbursement requirements under the other two settlements. A spokesman for Wells Fargo had no immediate response and a call to the Los Angeles City Attorney was not immediately returned.

The bank agreed in September to pay $185 million in penalties and up to $5 million to customers who, regulators say, were pushed into fee-generating accounts they never requested.

Wells Fargo also said it is still analyzing whether additional unauthorized accounts were opened in 2009 and 2010, which goes beyond its requirements under the settlement.

The bank also said that more than 177,000 accounts that had potentially unauthorized credit cards opened, or unauthorized inquiries made, had credit score declines.

The scandal hammered Wells Fargo’s stock for roughly two months. It also forced the bank to change its compensation plan and scrap sales targets in order to emphasize customer service.

The bank is still conducting other internal inquiries to determine who else may be responsible for the sales problems, and has said it will make amends in various ways, from compensating customers whose credit scores may have been harmed to welcoming back employees who may have been fired for the wrong reasons.

Wells Fargo’s non-interest expenses rose 4.9 percent to $13.22 billion, reflecting higher legal costs.

“Our key conclusion is that legal and remediation costs are likely to undermine asset growth, creating downside risk,” Guggenheim Securities analyst Eric Wasserstrom wrote in a research note.

Like other U.S. bank stocks, Wells Fargo’s shares have risen sharply since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.

The bank’s shares were up 1.3 percent at $55.21 Friday, well above their low of $43.55 in the aftermath of the settlement announcement. (Reporting by Dan Freed in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru.)

Copyright 2025 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Print Email
Claims / LegalClaims & ReservingCommercial LinesLitigation/Liability TrendsMarketsNewsThe C-SuiteU.S.

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

AI in Property/Casualty Insurance: Why Trusted Data Is the Missing Link
Insurance Industry ‘Megadeals’ Dominate 2025, Says PwC
How Carriers Are Pairing AI and Process Discipline to Drive Subrogation Outcomes
What to Expect in 2026: U.S. P/C Results More Like 2024

Related Articles

Wells Fargo Settles Racial Bias Broker Lawsuit
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf Quits in Fake Account Fallout
Pension Funds Seek SEC Regs Expanding Human Capital Management Disclosures
Wells Fargo Phony Account Scandal May Be Bigger Than Previously Thought
Wells Fargo Will Pay $50M to Settle Suit Over Homeowners Fees
Wells Fargo Will Settle Lawsuit Over Account Abuses With $110M Payment
Wells Fargo Account Scandal Draws Calif. Criminal Probe
Prudential May Seek Cover From Wells Fargo for Account Scandal Costs
Wells Fargo Investors Urged to Unload Most Board Members Over Fake Account Scandal
Wells Fargo Scandal May Reach to Thousands of Small Business Owners

Our Contributors

Ajay KelshikerDemystifying the Data Landscape: Lake, Warehouse and Lakehouse Explained
David PerlaLegal Finance and Insurance: From Confusion to Collaboration
Tim SlevinExamining 5 Key Factors Fueling MGA Growth—and Emerging Challenges Ahead
Adolfo CanoviHow Carriers Are Pairing AI and Process Discipline to Drive Subrogation Outcomes
Mark Bernacki IIHow Carriers Are Pairing AI and Process Discipline to Drive Subrogation Outcomes
Krista GlennRebuilding Negotiation Talent: Why This Skill Is Missing and How to Fix It
See All Our Contributors

Free Newsletter

NewsletterSign up to receive daily news!

Latest Magazine

Carrier Management magazine
View All

Latest

  • Cannabis Businesses Face Hurdles Accessing Big Banks Despite Reclassification
  • Deceptive Self-Driving Claims Prompt California to Threaten Tesla With 30-Day Sales License Suspension
  • AIG Partners With Amwins, Blackstone to Launch Lloyd’s Syndicate Using Palantir
  • Vantage Group to Be Acquired by Ackman-Backed Howard Hughes Holdings for $2.1B
  • Artificial Intelligence Is Rewriting the Rules for Commercial Lines
  • Protective Gear Meant to Protect Firefighters May Hide New Chemical Danger
  • Odometer Fraud Sees 14% Jump in the Past Year
  • Hyundai, Kia Must Repair Millions of Cars Under Deal to Fix Anti-Theft Technology
  • C-Suite
  • News
  • Leadership
  • Markets
  • Regulation
  • Top 50
  • Members Only
  • Videos

Headlines

  • The Good Neighbor
  • What Progressive and GEICO Q3 Results Reveal About Auto ...
  • The Power of the First Offer
  • How One MGU Grew Fivefold When Capacity Fled Cat-Prone ...

Resources

  • Videos / Podcasts
  • Contributors

Popular Topics

  • Boardroom Agenda
  • Technology
  • Financial
  • News

Brand Spotlight

  • Cotality
  • HazardHub
  • Indico Data
  • Majesco
  • Verisk
  • Vertafore

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Carrier Management

  • Submit Content
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Carrier Management iconCarrier Management
  • Insurance Journal iconInsurance Journal
  • Claims Journal iconClaims Journal
  • IJ Academy iconInsurance Journal Academy
  • Insurance Journal TV iconInsurance Journal TV
  • MyNewMarkets.com iconMyNewMarkets.com
© 2025 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map