Consumer bureau seeks record penalty for Wells Fargo: report

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) wants to fine Wells Fargo at least several hundred million dollars for auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses, according to sources that spoke with Reuters.

The fine would be CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney’s first since he was tapped to head the bureau in November, as well as the largest penalty the agency has announced.

{mosads}

Wells Fargo, the country’s third-largest lender, has been struggling since September 2016 because of revelations that its employees created unauthorized accounts and is being investigated by multiple agencies for fees it charged to mortgage borrowers and layering extra insurance on drivers, according to Reuters.

Mulvaney is working to draft a penalty that would address Wells Fargo’s multiple issues in total.

His new fine — which could be as high as $1 billion — would be much larger than the $100 million penalty Wells Fargo received for secretly opening unauthorized consumer accounts in 2016, according to Reuters.

Mulvaney has criticized the CFPB in the past for what he viewed as over-regulating, but has noted that abuses do exist in the financial industry.

Lawmakers will have a chance to question Mulvaney’s planned penalty in two congressional hearings later this week.

Wells Fargo is expected to release its earnings report on Friday.