Case studies
Wells Fargo Fake Accounts
CFPB $185M penalty + OCC consent order + Fed asset cap + SEC fraud charges + DOJ criminal case + 19 SEC filings worth of disclosure — every agency's paper trail.
2016–present
CFPB
OCC
Federal Reserve
SEC
DOJ
FDIC
Wells Fargo employees opened ~3.5 million fake customer accounts to hit sales quotas. Detected in 2016, the scandal cost the bank $185M in CFPB+OCC+LA City fines, a $1B CFPB+OCC penalty in 2018, a $3B DOJ + SEC settlement in 2020, and an unprecedented Federal Reserve asset-cap consent order that's still in effect.
Live cross-agency timeline:
/entity/WFC
— one API call returns every regulatory event for this entity across 21+ verticals.
The CFPB + OCC opening salvo (2016)
Initial $185M penalty — $100M CFPB, $35M OCC, $50M LA City — for opening 1.5M unauthorized deposit accounts and 565k credit cards.
Federal Reserve asset cap (2018)
The Fed capped Wells Fargo's total assets at $1.95T, an unprecedented penalty that prevents the bank from growing until governance issues are resolved. Still in effect.
DOJ + SEC criminal + civil $3B settlement (2020)
Wells Fargo entered a deferred-prosecution agreement with DOJ and paid $3B to settle criminal and civil investigations.
Live SEC filings: 17 events in last 2 years
Wells Fargo's SEC disclosures continue to reference the scandal in Risk Factors, Legal Proceedings, and CFPB resolution updates.