The Labor Department is examining whether Wells Fargo & Co. has been pushing participants in low-cost corporate 401(k) plans to roll their holdings into more expensive individual retirement accounts at the bank, the Wall Street Journal reported. Labor Department investigators also are interested in whether Wells Fargo’s retirement-plan services unit pressed account holders to buy in-house funds, generating more revenue to the bank. A new federal investigation is unwelcome news for Wells Fargo, which has been dealing with an array of regulatory issues over the past two years. Just last week, it agreed to pay a $1 billion fine over claims of misconduct in its auto and mortgage lending businesses.
