Wells Fargo ordered to pay $3.7 billion for mismanaging customer funds

Banking giant Wells Fargo was ordered by federal agencies on Tuesday to pay $3.7 billion for allegedly mismanaging millions of auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a statement that Wells Fargo will pay $2 billion in repayments to consumers, and also slapped the company with a $1.7 billion fine for violating consumer protections.

According to the CFPB, Wells Fargo had been charging its consumers using a variety of illegal financial tactics, including assessing illegal fees and interest charges on loans and mortgages, wrongfully having customers' cars repossessed, and misapplying various payments on loans.

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"The bank's illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for thousands of customers, the loss of their vehicles and homes," the CFPB said. "According to today's enforcement action, Wells Fargo harmed millions of consumers over a period of several years, with violations across many of the bank's largest product lines."

According to the complaint, more than 16 million Wells Fargo customers were directly affected by the company's actions.

This is not the first time that Wells Fargo has been in hot water with financial regulators, as The Associated Press noted that the company has been repeatedly sanctioned for similar charges going back to 2016.

"We and our regulators have identified a series of unacceptable practices that we have been working systematically to change," Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said in a statement. "This far-reaching agreement is an important milestone in our work to transform the operating practices at Wells Fargo and to put these issues behind us."