Wells Fargo & Co. was cleared by a jury of claims it misrepresented a securities-lending program to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and other institutional investors and a demand it pay for $8.2 million of losses, Bloomberg News reported today. A federal court jury yesterday returned a verdict rejecting allegations in the plaintiffs’ 2011 lawsuit that the bank marketed a risky program as safe, leading to losses the bank blamed on the financial crisis alone. The case is one of at least five filed in Minnesota against Wells Fargo over the securities-lending program, which was based in the state. Under the program, Wells Fargo held its clients’ securities in custodial accounts and made temporary loans of the instruments to brokers. The brokers used the securities to support trading activities such as short sales and option contracts.
