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Morning Scan: Wells' Troubles Mount; Bill Would Boost Fintech

09/23/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Another day, another woe: The pressure on Wells Fargo continues to increase. Eight Democrat senators Thursday asked the Labor Department to open an investigation into the bank's workplace practices. Specifically, the senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the department's Wage and Hour Division to examine whether Wells "aggressively skirted" overtime laws and failed to properly compensate its lower-level employees. Labor said it was taking "very seriously" complaints about how the bank...

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Women in Banking: Wellsgate, B of A Settlement and a Fintech Escape

09/22/16

We haven't heard from Carrie Tolstedt yet, but she has been in the spotlight all week, as seemingly everyone wants an explanation from Wells Fargo. JPMorgan Chase puts even more focus on digital channels, and Politico has a piece on the opportunities fintech offers women, especially female bankers, with a caveat. Also, the B of A bros' club suit has been settled.

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Morning Scan: House Wants Shot at Stumpf; Phones to Replace Banks?

09/22/16

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Round Two: Congress isn't through with Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf just yet. Following his pummeling before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday, Stumpf has been asked to testify before the House Financial Services Committee next week on the bank's phony accounts scandal.

The New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson says Wells' recent behavior was no surprise to attorneys who battled the bank in mortgage foreclosure cases after the housing meltdown. "During the financial crisis,...

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Morning Scan: Stumpf Grilled; Buffett Protégé Joins JPM Board

09/21/16

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How long?: Wells Fargo CEO John G. Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee the bank's pervasive pattern of illegally opening banking accounts without its customers' permission may have gone on even longer than previously believed. "Although the bank has traced the illegal account openings to 2011, it is investigating whether they may have begun even sooner," Stumpf told the panel, according to the New York Times. Stumpf said he found about the...

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Morning Scan: Heat Remains on Wells; Blockchain Editing Tool

09/20/16

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Deeply sorry: Wells Fargo CEO John G. Stumpf will tell the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday that he is "deeply sorry" the bank opened bank accounts and credit cards for customers without permission and that he takes "full responsibility" for scandal, according to his prepared opening remarks that were obtained by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Stumpf will strike "a decidedly contrite tone" before the committee, the Times said. "I...

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Morning Scan: Wells' Sales Culture Ran Amok; Deutsche Says 'No'

09/19/16

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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...

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Morning Scan: DOJ's $14B Deutsche Proposal; Big-Small Double-Standard?

09/16/16

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Opening bid: The Justice Department has proposed that Deutsche Bank pay $14 billion to settle a series of mortgage-backed securities investigations dating back to the financial crisis, "a number that would rank among the largest of what other banks have paid to resolve similar claims and is well above what investors have been expecting," the Wall Street Journal reported. The figure is preliminary, and it's unclear how much of that proposed amount...

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Women in Banking: Let's Try Amplification

09/15/16

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.

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Morning Scan: Wells Subpoenaed; Activist Seeks Changes to 'Clubby' Board

09/15/16

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Wells probed: Federal prosecutors in at least three districts have begun investigating Wells Fargo's sales practices in the wake of last week's $185 million settlement. The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan and San Francisco sent subpoenas to the bank. The investigation "is focusing on whether someone senior within the bank directed employees to falsify documents in conjunction with the opening of accounts and products without consumers' knowledge or...

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Morning Scan: Wells Officials and Blame; Dodd-Frank Bill Advances

09/14/16

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Blame game: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf and CFO John Shrewsberry both tried to deflect blame for the company's phony accounts scandal. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Stumpf "appeared to lay blame for the problems with the employees involved than with any flaw in Wells Fargo's systems or culture." ...

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