Wells Fargo fined $98 million in US for lax enforcement of sanctions

American bank Wells Fargo & Co. fined $97.8 million for insufficient enforcement of sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. This was reported by the Federal Reserve System (FRS) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury.

In a FSR press release to be specifiedthat the amount of the fine from the regulator amounted to more than $67.7 million, from the OFAC – $30 million. According to the FRS, insufficient supervision of Wells Fargo & Co. allowed the bank to violate U.S. sanctions by “providing a trade finance platform to a foreign bank that used it to process prohibited transactions” worth about $532 million between 2010 and 2015.

At OFAC declaredthat violations were committed in 2008–2015. According to the agency, Wells Fargo and its predecessor Wachovia Bank (which was acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008) provided a foreign bank in Europe with software that the bank used to process transactions with US-sanctioned jurisdictions and individuals. OFAC clarified that Wells Fargo agreed to pay the fine.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Wells Fargo’s earnings fell by halfup to $2.8 billion. This is due, among other things, to a fine of $3.7 billion, appointed bank in December for illegal commissions on consumer loans. The bank’s quarterly revenue decreased by 5.7%, to $19.7 billion. Revenue for the year decreased by 6%, to $73.8 billion, profit – by 39%, amounting to $13.2 billion.

Laura Keffer