The company has been the subject of several investigations by regulators. On February 2, 2018, account fraud by the bank resulted in the Federal Reserve barring Wells Fargo from growing its nearly $2 trillion asset base any further until the company fixed its internal problems to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve.[10] In September 2021, Wells Fargo incurred further fines from the United States Justice Department charging fraudulent behavior by the bank against foreign-exchange currency trading customers.[11] Bloomberg Businessweek reported in March 2022 that Wells Fargo was the only major lender in 2020 to reject more home refinancing applications from Black applicants than it approved.[12]
In December 2022, the U.S. levied a $3.7 billion loan-management fine upon Wells Fargo. In March 2023, Wells Fargo blamed a technical glitch for misstating the balances of customers’ accounts, in many cases incorrectly deeming the customers as having a negative bank balance.[13] Subsequently, in 2023, prison sentencing took place for employee-directed money laundering and funneling cash illegally to Mexico through the creation of fictitious accounts.[14]