It feels safe to say that Wells Fargo is a pretty miserable place to work these days. The hateful or pitying looks from customers, regulators, family, friends, potential CEOs, Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon and other outsiders. Sharing an office with 25,000 other people reduced to eating only Popeyes. The bonuses, or lack thereof. The waiting around to see if you’re among the next crop of sacrificial lambs offered up in response to the next fuck-up by someone else. An HR department that sees its role as collecting, rather than addressing, complaints.
Well, some enterprising employees are doing something about the latter. And as with previous innovations by enterprising Wells employees, it’s bad news for the bank.
On March 25, an advocacy group called The Committee for Better Banks will participate in a House Financial Services Committee hearing titled “Holding Wells Fargo Accountable: Examining the Impact of the Bank’s Toxic Culture on Its Employees.” Two bank workers plan to testify….
“They’re able to work with Congress and representatives and kind of gives us a voice where they’ll actually do something about it,” Jackson told Reuters.
The group has been trying in vain to get management’s attention for years…. The group has not gotten an audience with any of the CEOs, but they have had success with Federal Reserve governors, Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and an Iowa lawmaker who used Wells Fargo employees as the face of her campaign to prevent offshoring.
Charlie Scharf thinks this is all a little unfair, as he’s only been in the world’s worst job for about 10 minutes. Still, he did suggest the group go meet with the head of HR, which under the circumstances is at least a little insulting. But fear not, aggrieved employees: He’s doing everything he can to turn Wells into JPMorgan as quickly as he can, as the former Dimon protégé adds a little Dimon flesh and blood to the effort (and by doing so presumably increasing the grievance felt by the Charlotte, San Francisco and Des Moines cliques and Charlie Munger about the growing New York cabal driving the stagecoach). Anyway, if you haven’t noticed, he’s got bigger fish to fry.
Conor Tolkin, Dimon’s son-in-law, reports directly to Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf in a transformation and planning role, according to company spokeswoman Arati Randolph. He joined the firm late last year to conduct planning and administrative support for Scharf, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Tolkin previously worked under Scharf at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., according to his LinkedIn profile…. Since taking over at Wells Fargo in October, Scharf has hired at least five men with experience at JPMorgan.
Prosecutors agreed not to pursue criminal charges against the bank if Wells cooperates with other investigations and complies with relevant laws for three years.
However, the deal did not address issues with Wells’ mortgage and auto-lending businesses, where customers were enrolled in unwanted products that charged fees. Nor does it preclude potential charges against individuals who were in charge at the time of sales abuses….
The resolution was seen as positive, but the Fed’s consent order remains the “bigger overhang on shares,” Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Brian Kleinhanzl said in a note.
Wells Fargo workers seek Washington’s help with internal gripes [Reuters]
At Wells Fargo, One-Time Dimon Protege Hires Dimon’s Son-in-Law [Bloomerg]
For Wells Fargo and former executives, $3 billion-deal with U.S. may not be the end [Reuters]
How New York became Wells Fargo’s new center of power [American Banker]