A subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co in Ireland was charged with a fine of 5.9 million euros for multiple breaches of regulatory reporting for an extended period, marking it the second largest fine ever imposed by the Central Bank of Ireland.
The Central Bank said on Friday that Wells Fargo Bank International Unlimited Company, from 2014 to 2019, came on admitting to breaching the regulatory requirements for five times including inaccurate report about its capital standings which exposed general but severe weaknesses in bank’s reporting capability.
Wells Fargo took serious approach towards its regulatory obligations and had made larger improvements to its processes and systems after happening of the breaches, said a spokesperson for the bank.
Wells Fargo is the fourth-largest bank by assets of the United States, but in its home market too, the bank has been flooded by a series of mis-selling scandals which cost the bank billions in fines with Federal Reserve’s imposition of an exceptional cap on bank’s balance sheet.
With branches in Frankfurt and London, Wells Fargo’s Irish incorporated business offers lending services to corporate clients across Europe, according to the bank’s website. The Irish subsidiary of Wells Fargo had a turnover rof $586 million last year, the central bank said.
For being regulated by the Central Bank, it is the minimum requirement of the firms to submit its regulatory returns accurately as well as timely, Director of Enforcement Seana Cunningham said in a statement.
The action enforced by the Central Bank refers to Well Fargo’s failure related to both liquidity testing and capital reporting, and for that reason these weaknesses in particular are considered to be taken seriously.
The fine on Wells Fargo is the second largest after a fine of 21 million euro was imposed on Irish lender Permanent TSP for charging its mortgage customer in excess, said a central bank spokesman.
