The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has agreed to settle its case against an ex-Wells Fargo & Co. executive who had been facing a $10 million fine and a ban from working in the banking industry for her role in a scandal that involved bank employees opening millions of potentially fake accounts to meet sales goals.
Claudia Russ Anderson (Courtesy of Bill Anderson)
Claudia Russ Anderson, of Lake Elmo, who served Wells Fargo’s community bank group risk officer, no longer must pay a fine and may be employed by a bank in the future if she wants, under the terms of the settlement finalized in a consent order signed Wednesday.
In 2020, the OCC brought administrative charges against Russ Anderson, initially seeking a $5 million penalty, which the agency later increased to $10 million. The final order, issued by Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, fined Russ Anderson $10 million and forbid her from future participation in the banking industry.
The OCC’s decision to settle came as oral arguments were approaching in Russ Anderson’s federal court appeal of Hsu’s decision, said Brett D. Kelley, Russ Anderson’s attorney.
Kelley called the outcome a “total vindication” for his client, adding that the agreement “resolves the most significant civil enforcement action brought by the OCC against individual bankers in U.S. history. Reducing a $10 million penalty to a $0 offer speaks for itself.”
A spokesperson for the OCC did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday. A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo declined to comment.
Anderson was one of several Wells Fargo executives accused of engaging in “unsafe or unsound” banking practices, misleading bank examiners and violating federal law in connection with the bank’s sales practices.
Regulators alleged that employees, trying to meet aggressive sales targets, opened bank and credit card accounts, moved money between those accounts and created fake email addresses to sign customers up for online banking — all without customer authorization. Debit cards were issued and activated, as well as PINs created, without customers’ knowledge.
Wells Fargo was fined $185 million by California and federal regulators in connection with the scandal.
Douglas Kelley, another of Russ Anderson’s attorneys, said the settlement means his client will be able to spend time with her 77-year-old husband. Russ Anderson, 66, does not plan to work in banking “ever again,” he said.
“We are glad the OCC decided to throw in the towel,” he said. “We are ecstatic that this ends the nine-year nightmare for Claudia and her family.”
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