FINRA Orders Wells Fargo Units to Pay $1.5M For Anti-Money Laundering-Related Lapses

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network (WFAFN) and Wells Fargo Advisors (WFA) to collectively pay $1.5M for anti-money laundering (AML) failures. According to the self-regulatory organization, the two brokerage firms did not comply with a main component of the anti-money laundering compliance program when it did not require some 220,000 new customer accounts to go through an identity verification process. The failures purportedly occurred from 2003 to 2012.

The anti-money laundering compliance program mandates that brokerage firms set up and keep up a written Customer Identification Program that lets them confirm the identity of every customer setting up an account. The broker-dealer should use the CIP to get and verify a minimum amount of identifying data before opening a new customer account. The firms must also keep records of the verification process and let customers know that data is being gathered to confirm their identities.

FINRA said that the firms had a CIP system but it was deficient because of the electronic systems involved. Of the 220,000 new accounts that never had to undergo customer identify verification, some 120,000 of them were closed by the time the problem was identified.

By settling, Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Financial Advisors, which are both Wells Fargo units, are not denying or admitting to the charges. They are, however, consenting to the entry of findings.

In other Wells Fargo-related news, homeowners suing mortgage companies that belonged to Wachovia won a $54.8 million verdict in their class action securities case over excessive fees. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia in 2008.

The plaintiffs are borrowers with mortgages that were serviced or belonged to HomeEq serving or the lender, the now-defunct The Money Store. Homeowners have been trying to get back around $29 million for alleged excessive charges plus interest. Joseph Mazzei, the lead plaintiff claimed that both entities continued to charge late fees each month to borrowers even after mortgages went into default.

A jury said that the mortgage companies were liable for late fees. Wells Fargo never owned either The Money Store or Home Eq. Wells Fargo owned the latter, while the former, which belonged to First Union, later came under Wachovia’s fold.

FINRA Fines Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network $1.5 Million for Anti-Money Laundering Failures, FINRA, December 18, 2014

Wells Fargo faces payout after $54.8 mln loan fee verdict, Reuters, December 19, 2014

More Blog Posts:

FINRA Bars Ex-Wells Fargo Broker From Industry For Allegedly Bilking Customers, Expels HFP Capital Markets LLC for Securities Fraud, September 19, 2014

Wells Fargo Sued Over Allegedly Biased Lending in Chicago, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, November 28, 2014

Wells Fargo to Pay $5M Over Inadequate Controls, Altered Documents, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, October 21, 2014