Wells' CEO, other top execs will take $32M pay hit

Wells Fargo announced Wednesday that its board of directors is withholding 2016 cash bonuses to CEO Tim Sloan and other top executives in the wake of the bank’s phony-accounts scandal.

The San Francisco bank also said that Sloan and seven other members of the firm’s operating committee will see a 50% reduction in certain equity grants that vested recently.

“The result is an aggregate reduction in compensation totaling approximately $32 million, based on 2016 target bonuses and the current price of Wells Fargo shares,” the company said in a press release.

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In addition to Sloan, the following executives’ pay will be affected: John Shrewsberry, who is the firm’s chief financial officer; David Carroll, head of wealth and investment management; Avid Modjtabai, head of payments, virtual solutions and innovation; Hope Hardison, chief administrative officer; David Julian, chief auditor; Michael Loughlin, chief risk officer; and James Strother, general counsel.

Wells said that the compensation decisions were based on “the accountability of all those in senior management for the overall operational and reputation risk of the company, and not on any findings of improper behavior.”

Sloan said in the press release, “I fully support the board’s actions and believe they are critical to Wells Fargo’s commitment to our customers.”

Wells has been facing intense scrutiny following last fall’s revelation that as many as 2 million fake customer accounts were opened between 2012 and 2016.

In addition to various government probes, the company’s board has been investigating the scandal. Wells Fargo said Wednesday that its annual meeting is scheduled for April 25, and that the board’s findings will be made public by that time.

Wells also announced that one of its board members, Susan Engel, will not stand for re-election at the annual meeting. Engel has been a Wells Fargo director since 1998. She is a former CEO of Portero Inc., an online retailer.

The bank previously announced that John Stumpf, its longtime CEO who resigned in October, forfeited unvested equity awards of $41 million, while former retail banking chief Carrie Tolstedt gave up unvested equity awards of $19 million.

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Compensation Bonuses and incentives Consumer banking Corporate governance Corporate ethics Tim Sloan Wells Fargo
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