by Howard Haykin

Wells Fargo & Co. executives and directors reached a $240 million settlement with U.S. shareholders in the case, In re: Wells Fargo & Co. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 16-05541. The suit, which was led by pension plans in Alabama and Colorado, was filed in response to the scandal caused by bank employees who created millions of unauthorized customer accounts.

The settlement will cost the bank nothing because insurers for the defendants in this case - the 20 current and former Wells Fargo execs and directors, including CEO Tim Sloan and predecessor John Stumpf - will pay the full cost of the settlement. The officials denied wrongdoing, and the settlement resolves claims that the officials breached their fiduciary duties by knowing about or consciously disregarding the bogus accounts, and failing to stop their creation.

Bradley Keoun of The Street reports that the settlement, “in an embarrassing way, [is] a minor win for shareholders after more than $4.5 billion of elevated costs stemming from a series of scandals.”  The legal troubles at bank Wells Fargo keep adding up, with the cost of settlements and forgone revenue over the past 3 years now at $4.5 billion and counting.

For further details, click on …

• Wells Fargo officials enter $240 million settlement over bogus accounts [Reuters]
• Wells Fargo's Latest $240 Million Legal Setback Is Win for Shareholders [TheStreet]
• Wells Fargo in record $240 million settlement over fake accounts [NYPost]