Regulator gives Wells Fargo a failing score on lending
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given Wells Fargo a failing score when it comes to providing lending in low income districts. At the same time, the bank agreed to pay $100m to settle a class-action lawsuit over its creation of unauthorised customer accounts - a scandal that has been scaring off potential customers.

In the latest blow to Wells Fargo’s efforts to rebuild its reputation after months of turmoil, the bank on Tuesday received a failing score on community lending from its federal regulator.

Wells Fargo was given a “needs to improve” rating on its latest evaluation under the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law intended to promote lending in low-income neighborhoods.

Drawing on both public material and confidential information obtained during its review, the bank’s regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said it had uncovered “an extensive and pervasive pattern and practice of discriminatory and illegal credit practices across multiple lines of business within the bank, resulting in significant harm to large numbers of consumers.”

The regulatory action came on the same day that the bank agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its creation of unauthorized customer accounts. The bank has been under fire since its admission in September that over the course of several years, employees trying to meet aggressive sales quotas opened as many two million fraudulent accounts.