BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Too much pressure: Wells Fargo's sales culture "rooted itself so deeply … that it eventually spiraled out of control," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Questionable sales tactics … were an open secret in Wells Fargo branches across the country," according to interviews the paper conducted with more than three dozen current and former employees, from area presidents down to tellers. "Many branch managers routinely monitored employees' progress toward meeting sales goals, sometimes...

Unlike Wells Fargo's unauthorized account openings, concerns in 2003 about banks discounting rates on loans in exchange for customers buying investment-banking products were less about consumer protection than the potential harm to credit quality and competition.

Washington is hopping with news this time around. It's been a blistering week for Wells Fargo, and Maxine Waters, Carolyn Maloney and Elizabeth Warren are among those using scathing rhetoric about the bank to try to kill Dodd-Frank reform efforts. Speculation is that both presidential candidates are looking to Silicon Valley to fill key posts in their administration, and talk of Sheryl Sandberg as Treasury Secretary is growing louder. Also, check out the "amplification" strategy women in the White House are using to help their voices get heard at important meetings.

For large banks, the risks of partnering with marketplace lenders do not matter. But small community banks can't afford to partner with competitors angling to poach their customers.

With the risk-taking culture at big banks Â-- including that which contributed to the Wells Fargo fiasco Â-- it's a good thing the House bill to weaken Dodd-Frank will never become law.