Alarm bells, arrogance and the crisis at Wells Fargo
Fake accounts. Executives who only wanted to hear good news. Tens of billions of dollars in damage. As the bank’s chief security officer, Michael Bacon spent years raising concerns about rampant sales abuses. In exclusive interviews, he details how the bogus-accounts scandal unfolded — and argues that it could have easily been stopped.
As the phony-accounts scandal is brewing in 2014, the executive who functions as the top cop inside Wells Fargo gets shown the door.
Editor's note
The giant bank's woes, and punishment, began years ago — and still linger today. Revisiting the saga's origins now yields several important lessons.
Corporate-governance and ethics experts offer tips to avoid management wrongdoing at all levels of a bank.
The scandal's roots stretch back more than a decade. In a corporate environment that doesn't welcome bad news, problems fester.
In February 2018, the Federal Reserve prohibited the San Francisco-based bank from growing beyond $1.95 trillion. Five years later, analysts, investors and lawmakers are left with more questions than answers about the unprecedented enforcement action.
