‘We’re sorry,’ CEO tells bank workers
NEW YORK — Newly appointed Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan told employees Tuesday that he is “sorry for the pain” that the bank’s employees have suffered as a result of the company’s sales practices scandal.
Sloan’s companywide speech, given Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., is the latest effort by Wells Fargo’s executives to atone for the fact that the bank’s employees, pushed to the limit by impossible sales goals, opened as many as 2 million bank and credit card accounts without customers’ authorization.
In the speech, Sloan acknowledged that the bank did not respond to the problems in its branches soon enough and that upper management dodged responsibility for the bad behavior and wrongly placed blame on branch employees. Wells fired roughly 5,300 employees as a result of the scandal, the vast majority of them lower-level workers.
“Many felt we blamed our team members. That one still hurts, and I am committed to rectifying it,” Sloan said.
Wells Fargo is enveloped in the biggest scandal in its 164-year history, which earlier this month forced the abrupt retirement this month of CEO John Stumpf.
The bank faces several class-action lawsuits, as well as criminal investigations by the Department of Justice and the California Attorney General’s Office. Members of Congress have found bipartisan unity in their disdain for Wells Fargo.
There are also signs that customers are leaving the bank, or at least paring back their business with Wells. In its quarterly earnings report this month, Wells Fargo reported double-digit percentage drops in bank account openings, as well as declines in branch traffic.
While Wells Fargo has been apologetic to the media, its customers and livid politicians, the bank had done little to make amends with its roughly 260,000 employees. While the sales scandal made headlines, the outrage grew after Stumpf did media interviews in which he appeared tone-deaf and seemed to blame employees, who often earn less than $15 an hour, for what happened. It took Stumpf being summoned before Congress to publicly apologize for the bank’s behavior.
Then came reports from Wells Fargo employees that they were retaliated against for trying to raise awareness of the sales practices through the bank’s internal ethics hotline. Employees also told of developing stress-related health problems. In the speech, Sloan called the reports of retaliation “disturbing.”
Along with his early departure, Stumpf was forced to give up $41 million in stock awards as punishment for the bank’s behavior. He is still, however, walking away with tens of millions of dollars in salary he earned as CEO.
Acknowledging that Wells’ troubles are far from over, Sloan warned employees more difficult days could be ahead.
“You also should expect more tough headlines, as additional accountability actions occur, and other investigations and reviews are completed. Some of that is going to be very painful for us,” Sloan said.