Warren to Wells Fargo CEO: You should be fired.
Source: Washington Post,
Wells Fargos chief executive Timothy J. Sloan on Tuesday defended the mega bank against withering criticism from lawmakers that it has not done enough to reform itself since admitting last year it had opened millions of fake accounts customers didnt want.
I am angry about how we handled these problems, Sloan told the Senate Banking Committee. We can never let something like this happen again.
The bank has overhauled its community banking division where the problems occurred, ditched the aggressive sales goals that led some employees to open fake accounts and taken back millions in bonus money from senior executives, he said.
Sloans sales pitch appeared to fail to impress skeptical lawmakers. What in Gods name were you thinking? I am not against big, but with all due respect, I am against dumb. I am against a business practice that has puts Wells Fargo first and customers second, said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.). The changes the company has made are not sufficient to reform a corporate culture that is willing to abuse its customers and employees in an effort to pad its numbers and increase executive compensation, said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), ranking Democrat on the committee.
(Further down in the article there is this exchange between Warren and Wells Fargo CEO Sloan.)
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In one blistering exchange, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a long-time Wall Street critic, questioned whether Sloans 30 years experience at the bank made him the right choice to reform its corporate culture. Warren brought out a large black binder filled with the transcripts of statements Sloan had made to investors over several years, noting how in several cases he appeared to be bragging about the companys sales culture. No one bragged more, she said.
By focusing on the companys track record for opening new accounts, Sloan helped boost the companys stock price, she said. But it was that aggressive sales culture that led Wells Fargo employees to open millions of fake accounts, she said.
At best, you were incompetent, and at worst, you were complicit, Warren told him. Either way, you should be fired.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/10/03/ceo-to-congress-wells-fargo-is-better-bank-today-than-it-was-a-year-ago/?utm_term=.0e7e49339c9c
This article speaks for itself. CEO Timothy J Sloan defended the bank and the 30 years that he worked there. He claims to have changed that culture. Senator Warren attacks Sloan with proof that Sloan had made statements to investors that..."he appeared to be bragging about the company's sales culture" "No one bragged more." But she pointed out that it was, "sales culture that led Wells Fargo employees to open millions of fake accounts"
At best, you were incompetent, and at worst, you were complicit, Warren told him. Either way, you should be fired. " Warren told him..
Senator Warren really went after this crook. He had been there the whole time this was taking place and Sloan did nothing...She points out that Sloan is as responsible as anyone for the fake accounts, and holds him accountable.
I especially like these words, "Either way, you should be fired."
= new reply since forum marked as read
I don't believe she meant the rank-and-file middle managers and lower level employees.
The negligence that led to the security and management problems all came from the top. We've seen this repeatedly with many banking violations and failures, and Wells Fargo could have just paid attention and cleaned up their own problems. They didn't, however everyone should realize that it's the top executives who failed.
I'm not in the finance industry, so my comment should be taken as that of a non-interested party.
Good luck to you!
