Wells Fargo will pay New York $65 million to settle charges that the bank duped investors with its cross-selling of financial products.
New York has a unique law called the Martin Act that gives the state sweeping authority to prosecute attempts to misled investors.
In 2011 Wells Fargo workers began reporting to executives that bankers were creating accounts without a customer’s authorization simply to meet sales targets. But to investors, executives only reported metrics that supposedly reflected a successful business strategy.
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood says that New York investors lost millions of dollars because Wells Fargo failed to disclose that it knew about the misconduct.
The AG’s office says it is continuing other investigations related to the opening of unauthorized accounts.