SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP reminds investors in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC ) that the Lead Plaintiff deadline in the securities fraud class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is November 25, 2016.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired securities of WFC between February 26, 2014 and September 15, 2016 and suffered over $100,000 in losses contact Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. For more information visit:
https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/WFC
or contact Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm’s investigation, by calling 510-725-3000 or emailing WFC@hbsslaw.com .
Wells Fargo has been under siege since September 8, 2016, when the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published a Consent Order detailing Wells Fargo’s fraudulent cross-selling practices within its Community Banking division and its agreement to pay a fine of over $185 million. The conduct included illegally opening millions of unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts.
The Company’s then-CEO and Chairman (John G. Stumpf) testified before Congressional committees and allegedly indicated he and the Company’s board knew of the fraud as early as 2011. Nonetheless, the head of the division where the fraud occurred (Carrie Tolstedt) was initially permitted to retire with a reported compensation package of over $90 million, although she recently forfeited a small part of that. Stumpf agreed to forfeit approximately $41 million in unvested equity before he retired on October 12, 2016.
During the class period Stumpf and Tolstedt together sold Wells Fargo shares for proceeds of approximately $31 million and received incentive compensation in excess of $48 million.
California, Illinois, and Ohio have announced they will suspend doing business with the Company.
“Wells Fargo touted its ethical practices as well as the success of its program to sign up existing customers to multiple accounts and offerings, yet it knew it was lying about ethics, and knew their success was built on fraud,” said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein. “This case sadly reflects how America’s financial leaders continue to lack consideration for investors and consumers.” Hagens Berman continues to investigate Wells Fargo and welcomes information from witnesses.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Wells Fargo should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or email. WFC@hbsslaw.com .
About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a national investor-rights law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington with offices in 10 cities. The Firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the Firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com . Read the Firm’s Securities Newsletter , and visit the blog . For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw .
Contact: Reed Kathrein, 510-725-3000
