Wells Fargo is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California. The company was established by Henry Wells (1805\u201378) and William George Fargo (1818\u201381) on March 18, 1852. The two founders had built a start-up to help customers build businesses and manage their funds and called it Wells, Fargo & Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were taking advantage of express business resulting from the California Gold Rush and they benefitted from the technological revolution of their time. With trains, canals, and stagecoaches, the company could easily connect with other communities and send payments securely by steamboat and stagecoach. Moving from the West to the East Coast by ship via the Isthmus of Panama, the company was able to handle the purchase, sale, and transport of gold dust, bullion, and other goods. In a fast-paced economy and with demand from customers growing, the company established offices in California, New York and around the world, enabling customers to find the necessary support any time they needed it. Customers could use Wells Fargo as their agent could act on their behalf without the need to do business with partners who were located far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From 1855 to the mid-1860s, Wells Fargo expanded into the stagecoaching business with overland routes covering Missouri, the Midwest to the Rockies and the Far West. In 1861, it operated the western portion of the Pony Express route, from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. In 1866, after a massive merge, Wells Fargo owned all Western stagecoach lines and was at the time the biggest empire of stagecoaches in the world. With the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, stagecoaching declined, but Wells Fargo coaches continued to operate, offering support to areas where the railroads did not operate, even up until the early 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wells Fargo made a name for itself for their professionalism and exceptional services. Its agents and messengers were considered extremely professional and dedicated and were always prepared to face any hardships to get the job done. The company was also liberal and open to all customers regardless of creed, colour, or gender. Wells Fargo\u2019s transcontinental delivery operations influenced the brand\u2019s image and the horse-drawn nine-passenger Concord (New Hampshire) stagecoach, became their symbol. The company\u2019s stagecoaching operations were also well-known to robbers who were interested in the company\u2019s green treasure box stored under the driver\u2019s seat. The box famously included gold bars, coins, financial papers, and the passengers\u2019 expensive items. These boxes were guarded by gunslingers such as the legendary Wyatt Earp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1905, Wells Fargo\u2019s banking operations merged with the Nevada National Bank to form the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank. In 1923, this bank was unified with the Union Trust Company and formed the Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Co., shortened to Wells Fargo Bank in 1954. In 1960 it merged with American Trust Company and became the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company while in 1969, the Wells Fargo & Company was established. In the 21st century, Wells Fargo Bank had thousands of branches in the United States and became one of the country\u2019s largest banks, providing a range of services, from banking to mortgages, insurance, and financial management. As a global brand, the company has subsidiaries, affiliates, and retail branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wells Fargo account fraud scandal is a controversy which involves millions of fraudulent savings and checking accounts that were created without the clients\u2019 consent. In late 2016, regulatory bodies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined the company US$185 million while, by the end of 2018, additional civil and criminal suits up to $2.7 billion were made. This fake account scandal had continued to impact Wells Fargo and former bank executives up until early 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bank had an image of stability, but its reputation was hurt by the widespread fraud, which resulted in the resignation of the CEO John Stumpf and a number of settlements between Wells Fargo and various parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ireland\u2019s Central Bank fined an Irish subsidiary of Wells Fargo almost \u20ac6 million for five \u201cserious\u201d breaches between January 2014 and February 2019. They included the failure to accurately report the company\u2019s capital position and to comply with a requirement about liquidity testing. The fine is the second largest the Central Bank has handed out, after the \u20ac21 million fine it issued to Permanent TSB for the tracker mortgage scandal. The Central Bank had determined that the fine was up to \u20ac8.4 million but it was later reduced to \u20ac5.88 million according to the bank\u2019s settlement discount scheme. The Central Bank\u2019s investigation into the Wells Fargo subsidiary was part of regulatory reporting inspection in five peer credit institutions in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Se\u00e1na Cunningham, the Central Bank\u2019s director of enforcement and anti-money laundering, said: \u201cRegulatory returns are a tool used by the Central Bank to monitor the financial position of credit institutions and the risks to which they are exposed.\u201d \u201cThe submission of inaccurate information undermines the Central Bank\u2019s ability to properly supervise. Miscalculation and misreporting of the firm\u2019s capital position, in particular, is a fundamental failure. A firm understanding its capital position, and the accurate reporting of this in its returns, are of paramount importance to understanding its safety and soundness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was said to investigate Wells Fargo over its handling of consumer bank accounts and its \u201cpast disclosures to customers regarding the minimum qualifying debit card usage required for customers to receive a waiver of monthly service fees on certain consumer deposit accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its filing, the company said it estimates potential losses for litigation in regard to the scandals at around $2.6 billion as of 31st March 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Wells Fargo is an American multinational financial services company…<\/p>\n