Skip to content

Carrier Management

Critical Information for P/C Carrier Executives

Highlights

  • Culture Tips: Transforming a 150-Year-Old Mutual
  • Exclude It, Harness It, Get Greedy: Insurers' AI Playbook
  • Ranking Industry AI Talent, Maturity Leaders
  • 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
FEMA’s New Flood Maps Means More Homes Require Flood Insurance: Cotality
The Technology Taking Parametric Insurance Mainstream
  • U.S.
  • International
  • Industry News
  • Government
  • Technology & Science
Starbucks Settles Florida Lawsuit Claiming Diversity Policies Were Illegal
Driver Arrested in Bus Collision That Occurred Before Deadly LA News Copter Crash

See all News

  • Executive Spotlight
  • Innovation
  • Strategy
  • Leadership
  • Performance
  • Growth Initiatives
  • Social Responsibility
Why Automation-First AI Falls Short in Specialty Lines
AI Data Center Boom Creates New Risks, Opportunities for Insurers
  • Reinsurance
  • Emerging Markets
  • Global Economy
  • Personal Lines
  • Commercial Lines
  • Specialty
WTW, Ivans Reports Signal More Commercial Rate Moderation
The Big Data/AI ‘Revolution’ Is Driving Up Verdicts, Settlements as Plaintiffs Buy In
  • Insurance Regulation
  • Securities Regulation
  • Accounting & Tax
  • Rating Agencies
Pritzker Signs Bills Giving Insurance Department Power to Overturn Rate Changes
Can Reinsurers Maintain Underwriting Discipline or Will ‘Irrational’ Competition Return?
The $400,000 Chief of Staff Is the CEO’s Secret Weapon in the AI Age
Exiting California’s FAIR Plan
What I Wish I Knew While Leading Insurance Carriers
Nearly 100% Chance of a Mediterranean Tsunami Within Next 30 Years

See all Top 50

In Bots We Trust? For Insurance?
Viewpoint: What U.S. Insurers Should Learn From the EU AI Act
Help Me Understand: How Insurers Build Trust
How Leading Voices Can Help Claims Organizations Leap Ahead

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 2026 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.

OSHA Releases List of Top 10 Cited Workplace Hazards in 2026
WTW, Ivans Reports Signal More Commercial Rate Moderation
Another Perspective: Shaking Hands and Teaching Trust at Reinsurance Broker Holborn
Federal Terrorism Insurance Backstop Prompted by 9/11 Still Waits for Reauthorization

Related Articles

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

Our Contributors

Elool JacobyViewpoint: What U.S. Insurers Should Learn From the EU AI Act
Ben RoseWho Gets Credit for Successful Renewal During Soft Re Market?
Timothy MarshallFuture Cyber Catastrophe Events May Be Different, Yet Not Unknown
Arik YelovitchThe Technology Taking Parametric Insurance Mainstream
Kim GarlandWhat I Wish I Knew While Leading Insurance Carriers
Florian HappFuture Cyber Catastrophe Events May Be Different, Yet Not Unknown
See All Our Contributors

Free Newsletter

NewsletterSign up to receive daily news!

Features

  • Emerging Risks to Watch: Quantum Computing, Data Center Buildout, and Peptides
  • In Bots We Trust? For Insurance?
  • Viewpoint: Global Reinsurance Pricing to Remain Under Pressure Through 2027
  • Help Me Understand: How Insurers Build Trust
  • Building Trusted Insurance Brands: Less ‘Gotcha’ at Farmers
  • Another Perspective: Shaking Hands and Teaching Trust at Reinsurance Broker Holborn

Research & Whitepapers

  • C-Suite
  • News
  • Leadership
  • Markets
  • Regulation
  • Top 50
  • Members Only
  • Videos

Headlines

  • Culture Tips: Transforming a 150-Year-Old Mutual
  • Exclude It, Harness It, Get Greedy: Insurers' AI Playbook
  • Ranking Industry AI Talent, Maturity Leaders

Resources

  • Videos / Podcasts
  • Contributors

Popular Topics

  • Boardroom Agenda
  • Technology
  • Financial
  • News

Brand Spotlight

  • Cotality
  • Cytora
  • 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
© 2026 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map