Sen. Elizabeth Warren is not relenting on Wells Fargo even after former Chief Executive John Stumpf’s decision last week to step down, and is raising questions about his compensation, his replacement, and whether the bank has done enough after the fake accounts scandal.
In a letter sent Thursday to Wells Fargo’s chairman, Warren and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said Stumpf’s retirement was “appropriate,” but that they would have problems if Stumpf received a large compensation package or if his successor was connected to the creation of millions of unwanted accounts for customers.
“If Mr. Stumpf is allowed to walk away with tens of millions of dollars in compensation that he received while bank employees were engaging in widespread fraudulent activity, then he has profited from the bank’s fraud,” the senators wrote. “And if Mr. Stumpf is simply replaced by another top company executive who was aware of, but did nothing to prevent the widespread fraud that harmed hundreds of thousands of Wells Fargo customers and shareholders, then the bank is turning its back on accountability.”
Stumpf was replaced by Tim Sloan, the former chief operating officer with years of experience at Wells Fargo, including the time in which the scandal took place.
Previously, Warren had told Stumpf during his appearance before the Senate that it would not be enough for him to resign. In addition, she said, he should return all the money he earned from the bank while the scandal was ongoing, and face criminal prosecution.
A number of lawmakers have asked regulators to investigate the bank for violating securities laws, flouting labor standards, and a number of other infractions they speculated may have taken place at the bank. Members of Congress have also called on the Department of Justice to launch a criminal investigation of executives.
The bank’s large-scale creation of fake accounts became a national scandal in September, when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, along with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, announced a $185 million combined settlement with the bank.
