WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller’s top examiner at Wells Fargo has been removed from his position,
The examiner, Bradley Linskens, left his position in March, according to Reuters, and led a team of more than 60 people supervising Wells. He is still cited as the examiner-in-charge of the bank on the OCC’s website.
Linskens had been named senior national bank examiner early last year. “Brad joins a very distinguished list of examiners who have earned the title of senior national bank examiner,” Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said in a press release announcing the move.
OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard declined to comment, citing confidentiality around personnel matters. Wells also declined to comment.
Since last year, Wells Fargo has been embroiled in a scandal over the widespread creation of phony accounts. The bank settled in September with the OCC and other regulators for $190 million. Facing pressure from lawmakers and regulators, the bank’s CEO, John Stumpf, resigned in October.
The OCC has been criticized by consumer groups and others for taking too long to address the abuses at Wells Fargo, and for a perceived coziness with some of the large banks it oversees. The agency is undergoing an internal review of the Wells case.
The bank is expected to release the results of its own review on Monday.
