Wells Fargo Claws Back Another $75M

Wells Fargo recently clawed back an additional $75 million in executive pay from two former high-level employees as part of the latest fallout from ongoing investigations into the company’s sales practices, namely the unauthorized accounts scandal that arose last year.

On Monday, Wells Fargo’s board committee released an 113-page report that detailed the bank’s decision to hold back additional pay from former CEO John Stumpf and ex-head of retail banking Carrie Tolstedt.

The reason for the additional penalties, said The Wall Street Journal, was that the board felt misled as to the extent of sales abuses, which led to an $185 million fine. The board further noted it had not been informed of the 5,300 employees laid off in the wake of the sales practice scandal.

Of the $75 million in question, some $28 million is being taken back from a 2013 equity grant paid out last year. The latest figure comes on top of an additional $41 million in clawbacks for Stumpf. Likewise, Tolstedt’s $47 million share in additional penalties will reportedly come from stock options, adding to $19 million in prior clawbacks.

All told, the money returned adds up to a whopping $183 million.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also recently removed Wells Fargo’s most senior bank examiner as a result of the bank’s scandal that surfaced last year. Bradley Linskens had been responsible for day-to-day supervision of the financial institution since 2006.

The controversy all stems from Wells Fargo employees trying to meet aggressive internal sales targets by applying for about 565,000 cards as well as $1.5 million deposit accounts, allegedly without receiving customer consent. Those consumers then racked up annual fees and other charges on cards.

Wells Fargo recently came to a $110 million settlement with customers whose personal information their staff used to set up fake bank and credit card accounts. This deal will close dozens of lawsuits that have been filed across the U.S.