The Bank Slate

INSIGHTS INTO THE BANKING INDUSTRY

Wells fined $98M for lax sanctions compliance risk oversight

The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have fined Wells Fargo in San Francisco a total of $97.8 million for unsafe and unsound practices tied to “historical inadequate oversight of sanctions compliance risks.”

The Fed said in a press release that it fined the company $67.8 million. Wells was hit with a separate $30 million fine by the Treasury.

The Fed said “deficient oversight” at Wells Fargo Bank enabled it to violate U.S. sanctions regulations by providing a trade finance platform called Eximbills to a foreign bank.

The release said the foreign bank used the platform to process about $532 million in prohibited transactions from 2010 to 2015. Wells in December 2015 self-identified the issue and stopped letting the foreign bank process transactions.

The Fed said Wells no longer offers the trading platform to foreign banks.

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