Wells Fargo Just Can't Stop Improperly Adjusting Customer Accounts

Wells Fargo has always been my favorite recidivist corporate criminal, sometimes challenged by Uber, and now overshadowed by ICE and the Trump administration in vileness and vindictiveness. I have to give Wells credit, though. They have managed to stay out of the news for the last few months, pretty much ceding the criminality lead to the Trump administration. But, unsurprisingly, Wells couldn’t stay away for long.

Reuters is reporting that Wells’ employees “improperly changed information on documents related to corporate customers”, specifically adding or altering information in those accounts without the customers’ knowledge of permission.  According to the report, Wells’ employees were merely adding addresses and Social Security numbers to the various names listed on certain accounts in a desperate attempt to comply with a regulatory consent order to clean up the bank’s anti-money laundering processes. These violations occurred in 2017 and extended into 2018.

At least Wells wasn’t opening and closing new accounts for those customers without their knowledge or permission in order to juice commissions. And this time their criminal behavior was actually an attempt to comply with the rules rather than breaking them. So maybe things are getting a little better at the bank. But, as we see with this latest violation, “a little better” for Wells is such a  low bar that it still involves improperly screwing around with their customers’ accounts without their knowledge or permission. To coin a theme for our esteemed leader, what kind of human beings run these financial institutions.