Wells agrees to pay $110M

Class-action suit over unauthorized accounts

NEW YORK — Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over up to 2 million accounts its employees opened for customers without getting their permission, the bank announced yesterday.

It’s the first private settlement that Wells has reached since the company paid $185 million to federal and California authorities late last year. Authorities said bank employees, driven by high-pressure sales tactics, opened the bank and credit card accounts without customer authorization.

Wells also disclosed yesterday that a federal regulator had downgraded its rating under a law designed to help monitor and promote banking practices to low-income and minority communities. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cited the sales practices as one reason for the downgrade. The move means restrictions on San Francisco-based Wells’ business, including opening more branches or making acquisitions.

The settlement will include customers who had accounts opened without their permission, or were signed up for a product they did not agree to, going back to Jan. 1, 2009. Wells Fargo says it believes the settlement, which is subject to court approval, will resolve the 11 other pending class-action lawsuits filed against it over the accounts.

“We believe this is an outstanding result obtained for the benefit of a proposed nationwide class, notwithstanding Wells Fargo’s effort to block the class action with an arbitration clause,” said Derek Loeser, a partner with Keller Rohrback, one of the firms that filed a class-action suit against the bank.

After paying attorneys’ fees, the $110 million will first go to cover any customers’ out-of-pocket losses or fees that they may have incurred due to the unauthorized accounts. All remaining money will be split among all impacted customers.