Bay Area Shareholder Sues Wells Fargo Over Unauthorized Accounts
Image by firedoglakedotcom
SFGATE reports that a Wells Fargo shareholder sued executives of the reeling San Francisco bank Thursday, accusing them of unethical conduct and seeking to make them cover the costs of setting up nearly 2 million unauthorized customer accounts.
Shareholder William Sarsfield said a federal investigation “exposed a far-reaching, systemic breakdown in corporate governance” at the bank. “Wells Fargo fostered a pervasive, widespread company culture in which employees were pressured to engage in misconduct simply to keep their jobs.”
The plaintiff noted that virtually all of the 5,300 employees fired for the conduct were low-level workers, while top executives were untouched.
“Among them was CEO John Stumpf, who made more than $19 million in salary and stock options last year and has seen the value of his stock rise by $200 million in five years,” writes Bob Egelko. “Carrie Tolstedt, who headed the bank division in which the false accounts were created, is retiring and in line for $124 million in stocks and options.”
