Wells' Stumpf Called to Testify for Third Time About Fake Accounts

Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf may get a third grilling by lawmakers over the fake account scandal that continues to embroil the San Francisco bank.

Stumpf has been asked to testify at an Oct. 11 state legislative hearing in Calabasas, Calif., according to a media advisory released Tuesday.

Stumpf's previous two public appearances — before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees — were widely panned. His poorly reviewed performances are fueling calls for his ouster.

Credit unions have seized on the Wells scandal, using it as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the for-profit banking sector. The story has also led to a rebirth of Bank Transfer Day, which — when launched in 2011 following a spate of negative news from the big banks — helped spur some of the most significant credit union growth in decades.

Next week's hearing is being convened by California Assembly Banking Committee Chairman Matt Dababneh, an Encino Democrat.

The committee has yet to confirm that Stumpf will testify, according to a legislative aide. A Wells Fargo spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also invited to testify at the hearing is California Treasurer John Chiang, who last week suspended Wells Fargo from underwriting state bonds for a year.

The other invited witnesses are from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Los Angeles City Attorney's office.

Those three agencies announced a combined $185 million in penalties against Wells last month after discovering that bank employees may have established roughly two million phony customer accounts over a four-year period.