In a rare example of personal accountability for corporate wrongdoing, Wells Fargo’s former chief executive, John G. Stumpf, was fined $17.5 million on Thursday by the bank’s main federal regulator, which also took punitive action against seven other executives for the bank’s toxic sales culture and illegal acts. In a settlement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Mr. Stumpf also agreed to a lifetime ban from the banking industry for his role in the company’s misdeeds, which included foisting unwanted products and sham bank accounts on millions of customers. Two other former senior executives agreed to lesser fines and restrictions on their work in the industry, and the regulator said it was taking enforcement action against five others. Regulators sharply rebuked the former leaders for favoring profits and other market rewards over protecting their customers. “The bank had better tools and systems to detect employees who did not meet unreasonable sales goals than it did to catch employees who engaged in sales practices misconduct,” the office said.

Source: New York Times January 23, 2020 19:07 UTC