Wells Fargo reportedly will pay $1 billion fine for loan abuses

Wells Fargo & Co is close to settling a record fine of $1 billion imposed by two U.S. regulators for its risk management business, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Last week, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposed Wells Fargo to pay the penalty to resolve probes into auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses at the third-largest U.S. bank. Wells has acknowledged that it charged customers for excessive auto insurance, a burdensome expense that caused some to see their cars repossessed after defaulting on loans.

Wells Fargo declined to comment on the reported settlement.

The CFPB had been readying sanctions alongside the OCC, Wells Fargo’s day-to-day regulator.

The bank, still smarting from a prolonged scandal in which bank employees created millions of fake bank accounts in customers’ names, found inconsistencies at its auto lending and mortgage in summer 2017, leading to further probes by regulators.

To appease investors and regulators, the bank overhauled its operational structure, shook up its board and hired a new compliance officer.

Reporting by Patrick Rucker

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