SIFIs

John Stumpf may have hoped that Tuesday's hearing on Capitol Hill would mark a key turning point in Wells Fargo's blossoming scandal, but his harsh questioning by lawmakers — and his struggle to answer many of their questions — suggests that the embattled megabank's problems are just beginning.

Policymakers repeatedly said during a Senate Banking hearing Tuesday that Wells' mistakes couldn't be blamed — as the company maintains — just on rogue employees. Instead, they see a cultural problem at the San Francisco bank and wonder whether it extends beyond Wells Fargo.

The rampant unethical behavior at Wells Fargo suggests that bankers' ethics are still fundamentally awry eight years after the mortgage meltdown.

Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf was relentlessly questioned by lawmakers for nearly three hours Tuesday about what he knew of phony account openings and whether the bank would punish senior executives in what was arguably the worst hearing for a bank executive since the financial crisis.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called on Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf to resign Tuesday, saying Wall Street would continue to rip off customers until senior executives are held accountable.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released an open letter to Wells Fargo customers Tuesday in which she called the phony account openings "deeply disturbing," defended the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and demanded that individual executives be held accountable.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., dismissed calls Monday by a group with alleged ties to hedge funds to recuse himself from a hearing this week probing the recent enforcement action against Wells Fargo.

Contrary to their stated goals, the Fed's post-crisis regulatory and monetary policies may be contributing to U.S. income and wealth inequality, according to a new paper based on academic research from the Federal Reserve and foreign regulators.

The House Financial Services Committee said Friday it plans to open an investigation into the fraudulent account openings at Wells Fargo and will hold a hearing soon on the issue.

Big banks' flirtation with the idea of suing the Federal Reserve Board over its stress testing regime carries significant political risk and even if successful could yield at best a pyrrhic victory over the megabanks' primary regulator.