Wells Fargo disclosed investigations by two government agencies into the bank’s diversity hiring practices concluded without enforcement action.

In an annual report filing Tuesday, Wells Fargo said the probes launched by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022 over alleged sham interviews of diverse candidates each closed.

The bank noted a putative securities fraud class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged the bank and certain executives made “false or misleading statements about the company’s hiring practices related to diversity.”

Wells Fargo also faces allegations related to its diversity hiring practices in shareholder derivative lawsuits pending in U.S District Court for the Northern District of California and in the Delaware Court of Chancery, per the filing.

In August, a securities fraud class-action lawsuit brought by investors against the bank that alleged misleading statements related to diversity hiring was dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson for the Northern District of California wrote the plaintiffs must “allege more than that the sham interviews were ‘an open secret.’”

Thompson ruled that while Wells Fargo’s regulatory history, including its fake accounts scandal, provides context for the allegedly misleading statements, it was not sufficient evidence to prove intent to defraud.

Jeff Dale is Managing Editor, Editorial Projects and Analytics, at Compliance Week. He previously served as Compliance Week's Digital Editor and has worked as a copy editor at the Boston Herald and city editor at The Hour Publishing Co. in Norwalk, Conn.View full Profile

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