State treasurer sanctions Wells Fargo, suspends business relationships for 1 year

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016
In this May 6, 2012, file photo, a Wells Fargo sign is displayed at a branch in New York.
In this May 6, 2012, file photo, a Wells Fargo sign is displayed at a branch in New York.
kgo-AP Photo/CX Matiash, File

SACRAMENTO -- In a statement, he accuses Wells Fargo of "wanton greed" and "reckless lack of institutional control." He also called the accounts scandal "a legal and ethical outrage" that must be punished.

The sanctions include suspension of investments by the Treasurer's Office in all Wells Fargo securities, suspension of the use of Wells Fargo as a broker-dealer for purchasing of investments by his office, and the suspension of Wells Fargo as a managing underwriter on negotiated sales of California state bonds where the Treasurer appoints the underwriter.

We're also learning that Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is set to tell Congress the bank will end its sales goals this Saturday, which is earlier than expected.

Those sales goals are at the center of a scandal, in which Wells Fargo employees opened millions of accounts without customers' permission in order to reach those goals.

The bank has agreed to pay $185 million dollars to settle allegations.