Wells Fargo fired 5,300 workers for improper sales push. The executive in charge is retiring with $ [View all]

[EricMaundry]

Source: Washington Post

When Wells Fargo was hit last week with $185 million in fines after thousands of its employees were caught setting up fake accounts customers didn't ask for, regulators heralded the settlement as a breakthrough.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau noted that the $100 million it will collect as part of the deal was the agency's "largest penalty" ever. The head of Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a banking regulator, said its $35 million penalty would "demonstrate that such practices will not be tolerated and banks will be held responsible.” “This is a major victory for consumers,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, touting the $50 million the city extracted from the bank.

But the fines being levied against Wells Fargo pale in comparison to the bank's yearly profit -- more than $20 billion in 2015.

It is also less than the more than $200 million that the stock in the company held by company's chief executive, John G. Stumpf is worth. The fines also are not that much more than the $125 million one of its top executives, Carrie Tolstedt, will walk away with when she retires this year. An 27-year veteran of the bank, Tolstedt ran the community banking division where regulators said aggressive sales goals fueled illegal behavior by bank employees,

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/13/wells-fargo-fired-5300-workers-for-illegal-sales-push-executive-in-charge-retiring-with-125-million/?tid%3Dpm_business_pop_b