Wells Fargo probed for employee use of off-channel communications
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2023-02-22T16:02:00
Two regulators are investigating Wells Fargo regarding employees’ improper use of off-channel communications to conduct business and the bank’s recordkeeping of those communications.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) “have undertaken investigations regarding the company’s compliance with records retention requirements relating to business communications sent over unapproved electronic messaging channels,” Wells Fargo disclosed in a 10-K filing Tuesday.
Unauthorized communications by employees of financial institutions and the recordkeeping violations such actions cause appear to continue to be a priority for SEC investigators that shows no signs of slowing.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT
You are not logged in and do not have access to members-only content.
If you are already a registered user or a member, SIGN IN now.
Related articles
-
PremiumInvestor lawsuit targets Bank of America over off-channel comms fines
Stockholder lawsuits have emerged as the latest aftershock from the regulatory crackdown against banks and financial services firms for allowing off-channel business communications by their employees.
-
News BriefHSBC, Scotiabank latest caught in regs’ off-channel comms sting
The Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC were fined $22.5 million and $15 million, respectively, by U.S. regulators for admitted recordkeeping failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications to conduct company business.
-
News BriefEx-Wells Fargo exec fined $17M for role in fake accounts scandal
Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of Wells Fargo’s community bank, will pay a $17 million fine issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for her role in the bank’s fake accounts scandal.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
ArticleTop Ethics and Compliance Failures of 2025
The 2025 year has been so rich with compliance stinkers, and rife with poor judgment, compliance missteps, outright malfeasance and greed, greed, greed, that it was almost impossible to choose just six epic compliance failures from this year’s massive poop pile.
-
ArticleFATF focus on criminal asset recovery points to a more investigatory role for compliance
Global organised crime is booming, and only 1 to 2 percent of the $4 trillion black economy is intercepted, according to figures from the Financial Action Task Force. Its new guidance suggests that countries should focus on rapid investigations, collaborative intelligence gathering, and confiscating the proceeds of criminal activity.
-
ArticleCrypto network Paxful will plead guilty to BSA violations, pay $4M fine, shut down
Paxful, a crypto peer-to-peer network, will plead guilty to multiple federal criminal charges related to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), among others. The plea agreement follows years of scrutiny from regulators over anit-money laundering (AML) compliance failures.