Committee for Better Banks Responds to Federal Reserve Easing of Wells Fargo Restrictions

NATIONWIDE —  In response to the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it will ease growth restrictions, following toxic sales scandal exposed in 2016, Committee for Better Banks Organizing Directors Nick Weiner and Erin Mahoney issued the following statement:

“Plain and simple: Wells Fargo is taking advantage of a global public health and economic crisis to roll back regulations after defrauding millions of customers and exploiting its own employees.

While we commend the Federal Reserve Board for lifting growth restrictions in a temporary and narrow way, this should not set the stage for further chipping away of the asset cap or oversight of Wells Fargo. The asset cap has been a critical tool to hold Wells Fargo accountable for its misconduct, providing unique motivation for the banking giant to seek regulatory compliance and systemic reforms.

Wells Fargo has many steps to take before it can turn the page on its past misdeeds — its own CEO has acknowledged as such in public statements. Even now, the bank is ignoring workers’ pleas for safe and healthy workplaces, hazard pay, and the ability to tele-work in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, instead focusing on lifting its asset cap. 

We call on federal regulators to continue to hold the bank accountable for its fraud, while also not giving an inch to Wells Fargo’s excuses that they are unable to prioritize supporting small and mid-size businesses in dire need of assistance.”

About the Committee for Better Banks:

Members of the Committee for Better Banks who work for Wells Fargo have been at the forefront of helping to expose the root cause of the fake account and many of the bank’s other scandals:  the bank’s business model that aggressively pressured frontline workers to meet unreasonable and unattainable sales goals or risk being fired. After Wells Fargo formally eliminated sales quotas in 2016, the Committee for Better Banks has continued to expose how how high pressure sales environment and unattainable plus misaligned metrics have returned in new ways. 

The Committee for Better Banks, the only independent voice for frontline bank employees, is comprised of bank workers, community and consumer advocacy groups, and labor organizations, coming together to improve conditions in the banking industry. Committee for Better Banks members include current and former employees of banks and credit unions across the country, including Wells Fargo, Santander, Bank of The West, and Bank of America.