Wells Fargo Agrees to $65 Million Settlement With N.Y. Attorney General Over Cross-Selling

By Allison Prang 

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay a $65 million fine to settle claims brought by the New York Attorney General's office that the bank misled investors about its cross-selling tactics.

The fine is the most-recent penalty the bank has faced over its sales practice scandal, where bank employees made as many as 3.5 million "potentially unauthorized" accounts to try to hit sales goals.

"Wells Fargo failed to disclose to investors that the success of its cross-sell efforts was built on sales practice misconduct at the bank," the attorney general's office said in prepared remarks Monday.

The attorney general's office said it is still looking at Wells Fargo's "illegal business practices of opening millions of unauthorized accounts and enrolling consumers in services without their knowledge or consent."

Wells said in its own statement that it is "pleased to reach the agreement." The company didn't admit liability and said "the settlement costs have been previously accrued."

Shares of Wells fell 2.2% on Monday afternoon when the broader market was less than 1% lower.

Write to Allison Prang at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2018 14:53 ET (18:53 GMT)

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