Page 34 - Wells Fargo Bank (C) Case Study

“Unfortunately, it appears that the bank’s response was to

view the problem as employee misconduct and to fire
people as opposed to looking at the supervisory chain and

culture,” said Sheila C. Bair, the former chairwoman of the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation who is now

president of Washington College in Chestertown, Md.
“Culture and tone at the top are exactly what the board

should be looking at.”

“You haven’t returned a single nickel of your

personal earnings,”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts,
rebuked Mr. Stumpf, as she urged him to resign.

“It’s gutless leadership.”

He also he pushed back on Ms. Warren’s attack, telling her,

“I disagree with the fact this is a massive fraud.”

Stumpf tried to play down the bank’s misdeeds,

emphasizing that only a small percentage of its work force

has been caught acting unethically and fired for it.

“This was by 1 percent of our people,” he said.

But this view was not shared by customers, lawmakers and

former workers.

Stumpf also acknowledged in testimony before the Senate

that Wells Fargo officials knew about the practice far longer
than they had initially stated.