A consumer regulator calculated it could have pursued a $10 billion penalty against Wells Fargo & Co. over its sales practices scandal before settling on a much smaller fine, according to government documents released yesterday by House Republicans, the Wall Street Journal reported. A July 2016 memo written by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lawyers also said the bank had fired or disciplined around 10,000 employees related to its sales practices scandal, far higher than previously disclosed. The internal CFPB memo was written two months before regulators took action against Wells Fargo. In it, CFPB enforcement lawyers alleged that the bank had made “more than 2 million violations” of the consumer financial protection law related to opening of unauthorized customer accounts. Those violations, they said, opened the door to a huge fine based on the lowest penalties included in the law. The lawyers went on to recommend a $100 million penalty to “help resolve this case,” stating that the smaller amount would “sufficiently deter similar violations” and correct the bank’s behavior.
