Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) has been fined approximately $97.8 million by federal authorities for inadequate compliance oversight, leading to violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria, and Sudan. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revealed that Wells Fargo’s insufficient oversight allowed it to breach sanctions, as a foreign bank utilized its trade finance platform to process $532 million in prohibited transactions.
The Fed imposed a $67.8 million fine on Wells Fargo, while OFAC fined the bank $30 million for lacking proper compliance risk oversight between 2010 and 2015.
Wells Fargo responded to the fines, stating, “Wells Fargo is pleased to resolve this legacy matter involving conduct that ended in 2015, which we voluntarily self-reported and fully cooperated with OFAC and the Federal Reserve Board to address.”
According to OFAC, Wells Fargo and its predecessor, Wachovia Bank, supplied a European bank with software starting in 2008, enabling the processing of 124 transactions involving sanctioned individuals or jurisdictions.
In a separate incident in December, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau imposed its largest-ever civil penalty on Wells Fargo, as part of a $3.7 billion settlement over mismanagement of car loans, mortgages, and bank accounts.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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