California Treasurer website:

SACRAMENTO – Wells Fargo’s admission that thousands of its bank employees opened over two million fraudulent consumer accounts is a legal and ethical outrage that cannot go unpunished, State Treasurer John Chiang said today.

‘Wells Fargo’s fleecing of its customers by opening fraudulent accounts for the purpose of extracting millions in illegal fees demonstrates, at best, a reckless lack of institutional control and, at worst, a culture which actively promotes wanton greed,’ said Chiang.

As the state’s banker, the Treasurer oversees nearly $2 trillion in annual banking transactions, manages a $75 billion investment pool, and is the nation’s largest issuer of municipal debt. His office historically relies on financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo, to serve as partners to meet the state’s investment and borrowing needs.

The Treasurer announced in a letter to Wells Fargo Chairman John G. Stumpf and board members that he has ordered the suspension of Wells Fargo’s participation in its most highly profitable business relationships with the State of California.

Those 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.
• Suspension of Wells Fargo as a managing underwriter on negotiated sales of California state bonds where the Treasurer appoints the underwriter.