“For an extended period, Wells Fargo allegedly imposed fees higher than necessary on nearly 11,000 investment advisory accounts, totaling around $27 million, as asserted by federal regulators on Friday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s assertion is that Wells Fargo’s charges were unduly elevated.
Wells Fargo, without acknowledging or refuting the SEC’s accusations, consented to pay a civil penalty of $35 million to resolve the matter.
Additionally, the agency stated that Wells Fargo disbursed approximately $40 million, inclusive of interest, to reimburse customers who had been subjected to excessive charges.
Per the SEC, the excessive fees transpired when particular financial advisors from Wells Fargo and affiliated firms, now owned by the bank, agreed to lower standard advisory fees for specific clients. However, the SEC’s investigation revealed that staff responsible for account processing at Wells Fargo and its predecessors occasionally neglected to input the revised advisory fee rates into the billing systems.