As CEO of Scandal-Plagued Wells Fargo Faces Congressional Hot Seat, Allied Progress Ad Urges Congress to Rein In Bad Banking Behavior

The Unwelcome Wagon: Ad Debuts WellsFargoFacts.com Detailing How CEO Tim Sloan’s Ever-Rising Salary Has Only Incentivized More Consumer Abuse

***Click Here to View Full-Page Ad in today’s Washington Post Express***

www.WellsFargoFacts.com


WASHINGTON, D.C. Before Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan struggles to convince the House Financial Services Committee today that the banking giant has cleaned up its act since the infamous ‘phantom account’ scandal despite employee whistleblowing to the contrary, consumer advocacy group Allied Progress launched a full-page ad in the Washington Post Express encouraging Congress to do the job the Trump administration clearly won’t: hold big banks accountable. The ad features a timeline of how Sloan’s massive salary keeps growing as its scandals continue to pile up, and debuts the new URL www.WellsFargoFacts.com that will serve as an ongoing research repository on Wells Fargo’s uninhibited anti-consumer behavior.

“Tim Sloan’s career has been a textbook example of ‘failing up’,” said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Allied Progress. “Somehow Sloan’s salary soars every year while Wells Fargo seemingly can do no right under his direction – whether it’s aggressive cross-selling tactics, or illegally repossessing over 400 servicemembers’ cars, or getting fined $1 billion for ripping off auto and mortgage loan customers, or incompetently foreclosing on hundreds of homeowners they shouldn’t have. Tim Sloan will try to justify his enormous salary by testifying with a straight face that Wells Fargo is no longer a bastion of greed, even as his own employees are speaking out against the unreasonable sales quotas still imposed on them from the top.”

Added Funk:“It’s not just Wells Fargo’s top management that’s been incentivizing mistreatment of consumers. Wells Fargo stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Trump tax cut scam, which Tim Sloan took full advantage of by spending $8 billion on stock buybacks that enriched investors — especially himself — at the same time the bank prepares to lay off over 26,000 employees. Sloan may get another huge bonus, but probably not the ‘boss of the year’ award. The question remains: what pressure is Wells Fargo really under to end shady sales practices when they can practically write off any fines and penalties with their massive Trump tax cuts? Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s regulators — from the CFPB, SEC, OCC on down to the Justice Department – have done little to disincentivize illegal banking practices by continually letting bad actors off with a slap on the wrist.  Whether that’s because the administration would rather go soft on Trump’s Wall Street friends or because they’re too incompetent to use their full authority and power, Congress needs to step in and fill the void.”

There’s a reason why Wells Fargo’s reputation ranks in the bottom five of the top 100 high-visibility companies, according to the recent Axios Harris Poll 100, occupying the gutter along with Phillip Morris and the Trump organization.

Key Wells Fargo Facts [Read More at www.WellsFargoFacts.com]:

  • For Years Before the Phantom-Account Scandal, Tim Sloan Had A “Front-Row Seat To Top Executives’ Deliberations Over Management Issues, Strategy And Handling Risks.”
  • As Early As 2014, Sloan Bragged About The Profit-Making Potential Of Wells Fargo’s Aggressive Cross-Selling Practices, Which Helped Make It The “World’s Most Valuable Bank” Following The Financial Crisis.
  • Tim Sloan Directly Supervised The Head Of The Unit Responsible For Opening Unauthorized Phantom Accounts. Three Months Before The Fake Account Scandal Erupted, Sloan Claimed Wells Fargo’s Sales Tactics Were Executed “Correctly, And Appropriately.”
  • From 2011 To 2017, Tim Sloan’s Annual Compensation Increased From Over $8.3 Million To Over $17.5 Million.
  • After Trump’s Tax Bill Passed, Wells Fargo Authorized $40.6 Billion In Stock Buybacks To Enrich Its Executives And Shareholders; Stock Buybacks “Reward Shareholders—Which Often Include Executives Themselves—By Raising The Price Of Shares.” The Country’s Biggest Banks Stand To Gain An Average Of 14% Increased Earnings From Trump’s Massive Corporate Tax Cut—But Wells Fargo Stands To Make Even More—18%.
  • Before Trump’s Tax Cut Passed, Wells Fargo Was Planning A Smaller $33 Billion Shareholder Gift—Which Would Have Already Set A Record For Any U.S. Bank.
  • Sloan Held Over $64 Million In Wells Fargo Stock When He Pledged To Dole Out Any “Excess Amount Of Capital” To Shareholders. In February 2018, Sloan Owned $64,491,281.24 In Wells Fargo Stock.
  • In February 2018, Tim Sloan Held Nearly 25% Of The Stock Held By All Of Wells Fargo’s Directors, Executives, And Officers – And He Held Well Over 500,000 More Shares Than The Bank’s Next-Largest Executive Shareholder.
  • Meanwhile, Wells Fargo Is Keeping Front-Line Workers’ Wages Near Poverty Levels and Will Cut 26,500 Jobs—10% Of Its Workforce—In The Next Three Years.

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