Wells Fargo Affirms Focus on Building Strong Risk and Control Foundation

Rhea-AI Summary

Wells Fargo has prioritized risk management and controls, reflecting significant transformation over the past five years. Key developments since 2019 include restructuring into five business groups, introducing new leadership, and fostering customer focus with specialized teams. Regulatory achievements include the termination of two consent orders and an upgraded Community Reinvestment Act rating. Wells Fargo, with approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, serves a substantial portion of U.S. households and small businesses.

Positive

• Restructured business groups to improve oversight.
• Significantly reduced customer remediation backlog.
• Achieved important regulatory milestones, including consent order terminations.

Negative

• None.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Serving customers with the highest standards requires a strong risk and control foundation. That’s why meeting our own expectations for risk management and controls — as well as our regulators’ — remains Wells Fargo’s top priority. We are a different bank today than we were five years ago because we’ve made significant progress.

Specifically, since 2019, we have:

• Split three business groups into five and created four new Enterprise Functions to enable greater oversight and transparency
• Brought on board a significant number of new leaders. Ten of 17 Operating Committee members are new to Wells Fargo. We have new leaders across our businesses and functions. In Home Lending alone, more than 75% of the leadership team is new to Wells Fargo or to their roles since Kristy Fercho, the head of Home Lending, joined the company in August 2020
• Created new teams designed to ensure better and more consistent customer focus, including a Sales Practices Oversight and Management Function, an Office of Consumer Practices, and a significantly strengthened Control Management organization and program
• Launched an enterprise-wide Risk and Control Self-Assessment program to assess operational risks and controls and ultimately to design additional mitigating controls as appropriate
• Implemented a new incentive plan for bank branches that is governed by stronger oversight and controls, and focused on customer relationships
• Made significant progress in reducing the total number of customer remediations we have to complete and in accelerating remediation payments to our customers

In addition, Wells Fargo has achieved several important regulatory milestones over the past two years, which are indicative of our progress:

• In September 2021, the CFPB consent order issued in September 2016 regarding improper retail sales practices terminated
• In January 2021, the OCC terminated a 2015 Consent Order related to Wells Fargo’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program
• In May 2020, the OCC upgraded Wells Fargo’s Community Reinvestment Act rating to “outstanding”

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is the leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment, and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 37 on Fortune’s 2021 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy. News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo.

News Release Category: WF-CF

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210914005842/en/

Media

Beth Richek, 704-374-2545

beth.richek@wellsfargo.com

Investor Relations

John Campbell, 415-396-0523

john.m.campbell@wellsfargo.com

Source: Wells Fargo & Company

FAQ

What significant changes has Wells Fargo made since 2019?

Wells Fargo has restructured into five business groups, brought new leaders, and created enhanced oversight teams.

What are the recent regulatory milestones for Wells Fargo?

Wells Fargo terminated two consent orders and upgraded its Community Reinvestment Act rating to 'outstanding'.

How does Wells Fargo focus on customer relationships?

The bank has launched an incentive plan for branches that emphasizes customer relationship management.

What is the asset size of Wells Fargo?

Wells Fargo has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets.