US bank, Wells Fargo said on Wednesday that its chairman and chief executive John Stumpf would step down from the bank effective immediately as he becomes the highest profile casualty of the scandal involving sales targets and the creation of 2 million or more fraudulent bank and credit card accounts without the knowledge of the customers involved.
The scandal saw Wells Fargo fined $US185 million by regulators, including restitution of late fees and other penalties charged against the fraudulent accounts and required by customers to meet.
The Board said in a statement that it had elected Tim Sloan, its current president and chief operating officer, to succeed Mr Stumpf as CEO. Stephen Sanger, its lead director, will become chairman. mr Sloan was promoted earlier this week and freed from his oversight of the bak’s wholesale banking operations and made chief operating officer alone – but clearly it wasn’t planned as along term appointment.
Mr Stumpf came under intense political pressure after the discovery that the bank’s staff had opened millions of accounts for customers without their knowledge. He was criticised by Congress, by shareholders large and small and had $US41 million stripped from his retirement package by the board.
