Criminal case
United States v. Wells Fargo & Company (DPA) and In the Matter of Wells Fargo & Company (SEC)
- Authority
- US Department of Justice and US Securities and Exchange Commission
- Case number
- Not published
- Filed or opened
- 21 February 2020
- Organization
- Wells Fargo & Company
- Current stage
- Deferred prosecution agreement with a three-year term and SEC cease-and-desist order with a US$500 million penalty.
- Outcome
- Resolved by DPA and SEC order. Records on the end of the DPA term were not read.
Decisions and steps
Claims this case bears on
- Supported92The CFPB said in September 2016 that Wells Fargo employees opened roughly 1.5 million deposit accounts and applied for roughly 565,000 credit card accounts that may not have been authorized by consumers.Regulator statement, 8 September 20164 records citedFraud
- Outdated85Wells Fargo said in September 2016 that refunded accounts were a fraction of one percent of the accounts reviewed and that it had disciplined managers and team members who acted counter to its values.Company statement, 8 September 20164 records citedFraud
Sources
- S3Tier A Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Criminal and Civil Investigations into Sales Practices Involving the Opening of Millions of Accounts without Customer AuthorizationUS Department of Justice. Regulator press release. 21 February 2020.Supports the DPA, the US$3 billion total and leadership knowledge since 2002. It is not a conviction.Link working, checked 25 October 2026
- S4Tier A Wells Fargo to Pay $500 Million for Misleading Investors About the Success of Its Largest Business UnitUS Securities and Exchange Commission. Regulator press release. 21 February 2020.Supports the SEC antifraud order and penalty. The release contains no admit or deny language.