The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the U.S. banking regulator, is about to take action. On Monday, a civil trial is to take place in the Wells Fargo scandal.
The trial is held against three former employees of Wells Fargo Co. (WFC.N.). These executives have allegations of playing an essential role in the scandal. It is the same that involves phoney accounts at the San Fransisco lender.
The proceedings will take place in front of an in-house OCC judge in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is a unique event that shall witness the public confrontation between the regulator and the former top executives from the bank. The complaint says that these executives are partly responsible for Well Fargo’s misconduct.
The OCC reveals that the risk officer at Wells Fargo, Claudia Russ Anderson, former chief auditor David Julian and former executive audit director Paul McLinko failed. They could not adequately perform their duties and responsibilities.
Therefore, they played a significant role in the “Systemic Sales Practice misconduct,” at Wells Fargo. They peaked around 2002-2016. The charges were brought by the regulators. The trial against them has demanded around $19 million combined to settle the matter. Also, it is looking to ban Russ Anderson from the banking industry.
Russ Anderson, Julian and McLinko are against the allegations. However, the OCC is stern at taking action. The attorneys for the trio did not meet or answer the queries!
The long-running scandal put the company under pressure. Hence, pressurizing the staff to open many fraudulent and unauthorized customer accounts. These accounts range in millions. Moreover, these fraud accounts have caused the bank to lose billions of dollars in civil and criminal penalties. Further, the bank has also lost its reputation.
