Was the fine expected to be much worse? They're trading up at the moment
Or probably the end of uncertainty about the investigation is itself a signal. (People who dropped it from their portfolios because they were risky now put it back.)
Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
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Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#12Where does the fine go? Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing?
> Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing?
Are you crazy? The fines usually get distributed around different politicians to spend on their favorite things. Like this https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/07/14...
Which is why these fines will continue. Everyone hates the banks so the regulators can just keep fining them for everything indefinitely, when they run out of ideas they find some new problems with the 2008 mortgages again.
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#13Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…
Unfortunately, the massive restructuring you're referring to would likely need to be in the form of deregulation. It's unfortunate because deregulating something is typically a non-discussion. Our banking regulations make almost no distinction between massive, "too big to fail" banks and small community banks. Like most regulation, it's the massive companies that can foot the bill for complying with regulation, creat…
I didn't want to think you were right, but digging into this it seems to be the case. Dodd-Frank has apparently been a boon to big banks, and squashed competion [0].
"“Having a bank, it’s a sign of economic vitality,” he says. And it’s not just North Carolina. He notes the country has about 40 percent fewer banks today than when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, passed in response to the recession and implementing the most significant changes to financial regulations since the Great Depression, was signed in 2010.
Proponents of the measure said it would reduce the risk of another financial crisis by decreasing the concentration of resources in a handful of banks. Gwaltney says it’s done “the exact opposite.”
“The five or 10 largest banks in the country are larger than they were at the passage of Dodd-Frank,” he says."
[0] https://banksstreetpartners.com/news/what-happened-to-our-co...
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#14Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…
The cost of employing and training people who are able to do those tasks at each location might not be make up for the revenue they bring in.
Online systems let you weed out those who are going to cost you in terms of labor hours, so you can trim the 20% of customers who take up 80% of the resources.
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#15Where does the fine go? Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing?
> Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing? Are you crazy? The fines usually get distributed around different politicians to spend on their favorite things. Like this https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/07/14... Which is why these fines will continue. Everyone hates the banks so the regulators can just keep fining them for everything indefinitely, when they run out of i…
Was mostly a sarcastic question ;)
This pattern can be seen everywhere...
1) politicians regulate an industry with the best intentions
2) industry becomes a safe haven for "the big fish" that can pay to play
3) Rinse and repeat for a while, creating bigger and bigger barriers to entry into the marketplace. Politicians are happy, mega banks are happy.
4) Megabank inevitably does something reprehensible
5) politicians slap them with some fines. Fake remorse ensues...
6) go back to step 1
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#16It's hard for me think of wellsfargo as an "evil" company, because every time I had to go into the branch, they have some of the nicest tellers and it's always a pleasant experience.
Maybe it's possible to be a good, friendly person, good employee, etc., and still work for an awful company. People need jobs
Nice people work for Walmart and Amazon who are both frequently cited as terrible employers. Terrible people also work at generally "good" companies as well.
Say it with me folks: Business aren't people. They're collections of people who run a a whole range of types.
(Obvious exceptions for 1-man shops/Freelancers)
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#17It's hard for me think of wellsfargo as an "evil" company, because every time I had to go into the branch, they have some of the nicest tellers and it's always a pleasant experience.
I felt sorry for the branch manager at by local branch when I closed my account. She's a great person who really cares about her customers, unlike her employer.
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#18Was the fine expected to be much worse? They're trading up at the moment
It's now a known quantity and if there is one thing Wall Street dislikes is surprises.
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#19OK, but Wells Fargo made $5 billion last year, and the activity they were fined for took place over many years, which leaves me to ask: after the fines, was this activity profitable or not? If it was profitable, do the fines actually dissuade future dishonesty?
Also, apparently Wells Fargo thinks that 27,000 people lost their cars over this. I bet none of those people will be made whole. Cars are really essential things: lose your car and you may be unable to take a child to school, unable to shop for food, or even unable to get to work. It's a pity that can't be undone.
Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines
#20Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…
yay! i hope more people come to this kind of realization that small banks & credit unions are soooo much better--better service, better rates, better products, more forgiving about penalties and fees, and so much better at treating you like a real live human.
wells, chase, citi, BofA & the other big banks should be broken up into 100s of regional banks. lack of dignity and respect for customers follows from "too big to fail" (not to mention wasting trillions of our dollars without any punishment).