In March 1998, American Banker reported plans by Norwest Corp. to establish sales quotes and step up cross-selling. Three months later, the Minneapolis bank merged with Wells Fargo.
Consumer debt breaks the previous mark set back in 2008, but some are worried that people are returning to their profligate ways; Wells Fargo makes greater use of consumer surveys to fix its brand.
The city joins a growing list of municipalities that have filed similar lawsuits, just two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that municipalities have standing to sue lenders under the Fair Housing Act.
Wells Fargo may have opened as many as 3.5 million fraudulent accounts in the last 15 years, according to consumers who are trying to beef up a settlement with the bank over abusive sales practices.
Executives at the embattled bank made clear Thursday that they are not discarding its long-standing strategy of selling additional products to existing customers.
The good news: SBA lending is going gangbusters and business owners are optimistic about growth prospects and their ability to access credit. The not-so-good news: Many firms are still not particularly interested in borrowing and startups are not the engines of job creation they once were.
As Keith Noreika takes over as acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday, he faces a daunting challenge: a precipitous drop in morale at the agency.
