The Wells Fargo Foundation is extending helping hands to victims of the wildfire of Los Angeles County by donating $25,000 to the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. The wildfire, which is regarded as the largest in the modern history of the country, has destroyed more than five dozen houses.
“Wells Fargo has been a wonderful corporate benefactor,” said Paul Schulz, the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles’ CEO, “and we are hoping this donation will inspire others in the business community to give generously.”
The 2009 California wildfires have burned nearly 350,000 acres since August. The wildfires are still …read more

After losing a significant amount of money to Bernard Madoff and his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, a Malibu couple was forced to return their $12 million beach house to Wells Fargo. A scandal erupted, though, when it was discovered that Cheronda Guyton, a Wells Fargo senior vice president in charge of foreclosed commercial properties, had been spending weekends in the foreclosed home, throwing parties and living the high-life, all the while prohibiting the house from being sold.
 
For many, Guyton’s brazen use of a multi-million dollar foreclosed home has reignited outrage about how banks that received billions of dollars in taxpayer …read more

When California’s government ran out of cash to give to rightful income tax return recipients, it decided to instead issue thousands of IOUs that would give California time to recuperate its assets. Bank of America and Wells Fargo are now among the banks that will honor these IOUs.
Bank of America will begin accepting IOUs on September 9, immediately honoring the face value of the IOU, and interest will be paid thirty days later. No IOUs will be accepted after October 9, giving the over 100,000 Californian Bank of America customers a month to submit their IOUs. The process, though, has …read more

Wells Fargo was one of the first banks to receive federal bailout money as part of the economic stimulus package and it will be one of the last to pay the government back what it borrowed. A Wells Fargo spokesperson stated that the company will return $25 billion to the government soon without selling any additional stock.
Out of the first nine huge financial institutions that received bailout money, only Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup have still not paid the government back. However, Bank of American and Citigroup both received aid on two separate occasions, with Bank of America …read more

As this trend of interactivity on social media continues, it appears as though many companies want in on the action. Indeed, the latest is about how banks are all about Twitter.

Wells Fargo & Co. has a new lawsuit to deal with, this time facing the state of Illinois after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan accused Wells Fargo of bias. According to Madigan’s lawsuit, Wells Fargo intentionally directed African-Americans and Latinos toward the infamous subprime mortgages, knowing aware of the high costs of these mortgages.
Madigan has stated that Wells Fargo is responsible for turning Illinois’ primarily black and Latino neighborhoods into strongholds for the controversial subprime mortgages. These allegedly illegal sales practices have overwhelmingly led to foreclosures in these neighborhoods, forcing otherwise innocent families out on the street because of Wells …read more

Wells Fargo has a tough sell to make.

Finance world layoffs.

Wells Fargo announced on Monday that its subsidiary Wachovia Bank will purchase the 401(k) business from Texas-based Comerica Bank. They will acquire the defined contribution plan recordkeeping business this quarter.
This business provides recordkeeping to 250 retirement plans that have nearly 100,000 participants. The business manages approximately $3.4 billion in assets.
“This acquisition supports our goal of being a leading provider of retirement solutions in the U.S. market and shows our strong commitment to building an industry-leading retirement business,” said John Papadopulos, president of the retirement services group at Wells Fargo. “Comerica Bank customers already use our recordkeeping platform so this transaction …read more

Many experts around the stock market world are talking about how American Express could see its stock value rise throughout the rest of 2009. Currently, American Express stock is just under $19. Not long ago, the stock was sitting at higher than $50.
American Express took a hit when practically every other company in the financial industry saw their stock prices plummet. However, now experts are pointing to the fact that American Express requires its customers to pay off the card each month, which means that the credit risks associated with the company are much less. Additionally, unlike most credit card …read more