The Hole dug by Wells Fargo Bank

Wow, what can I say about the chicanery at the Wells Fargo Bank! It is shocking us here in the States. Here’s one version of the fraud story as reported by Reuters.

The Bank is iconic “Americana.” The Wells Fargo Company dates way back (1852) to the “Wild West” days of the United States. Even the Wells Fargo logo reflects its western heritage with its stagecoach imagery. Funny thing about the illegal activities which employees performed at Wells Fargo, I don’t think even the Glass Steagell Act would have protected the Wells Fargo customers! You see Glass Steagall helped to put a “wall” between the retail and commercial activities that a bank could legally execute and perform. Glass Steagell was revoked by Congress and signed “out of law” by President Clinton around the year 1999.

The “magic” of the Glass Steagall Act was that it protected the retail bank customer from illegal bank activities that probably caused the stock market crash in 1929. The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted in 2008 to create protections and decrease risks in the financial and banking system in the United States after the housing crash in 2008/09. However, in the year 2016 there are still parts of the Dodd-Frank Act which have not been completely executed or installed within the financial/banking system of the U.S.

I don’t know if Dodd-Frank implementations would have prevented the dishonest activities performed by employees of Wells Fargo Bank. It seems to me that integrity, honesty, ethical behavior, and honest business practices are the “fall guys” in this debacle or should I call it a “too aggressively executed marketing program being used at the bank. It would appear that the illegal activities of the employees were driven by “incentives” and “market goals.”

What shocks me the most is the vast extent of the illegal activity and why it was not detected and stopped by management?

I don’t know what scares me more: the idea that bank employees can “play” with my money, or that negative interest rates will sap my money from my bank account. From news that I watch and articles that I read, the world’s financial and banking system is not as healthy as it should be. The repercussions from the financial and banking crash in 2008/09 are still being felt, the “war” in the Middle East still rages, and even container ships of commerce (Hanjin) and trade are adrift in the middle of the International waters of the World.

Guess what I’d like to say to the employees of Wells Fargo…what were you thinking!!! And, to the management of Wells Fargo…where were you when these illegal activities were happening, why didn’t you stop it!!! I worked in the business world and it’s all about bonuses. Wow, they had to flow up the ladder “a-ways”. Gee did it get to the Board Room?

We are worried about Identity Theft these days; I guess this is an example of it on a massive scale. What are the banks going to do to get our trust back? Maybe we will have to keep our savings “under the mattress” or “behind a loose brick” in the basement. Oh, wait, some of us don’t have a basement any more because a basement is part of a house!

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Stump
Generous