Wells Fargo is establishing a new division that will oversee the bank’s interactions with consumers — everything from providing advice on how products are priced to reviewing complaint data.
The Office of Consumer Practices will be led by Michael Lipsitz, a lawyer who joined the $1.9 trillion-asset bank last year from Santander USA, and who serves as chief regulatory and policy affairs executive at Wells Fargo.
Lipsitz, who reports to Chief Operating Officer Scott Powell, will head up a small team of senior bank employees charged with ensuring that the perspective of consumers plays a significant role in decision-making. The office’s work will be focused on two consumer-facing business units: Consumer Lending and Consumer and Small Business Banking.
Powell oversees regulatory execution at the scandal-plagued Wells Fargo. He said in an interview Tuesday that the new office is part of the bank’s efforts to bolster its risk and control infrastructure.
“It’s another part of our evolution, as we continue to build out our customer-centric culture,” Powell said. “It will be a step-by-step, multiyear journey.”
Powell is the former CEO of Santander USA, where one of his major priorities was resolving the Spanish-owned bank’s many regulatory problems. Shortly after joining Wells Fargo
Powell and Cleary are among a number of executives brought in by CEO Charlie Scharf to shore up regulatory compliance in the wake of a scandal in which employees were found to have opened accounts customers did not want or need in order to hit sales targets. The new team led by Lipsitz will take a broader view of the bank’s interactions with consumers.
For example, one of the office’s responsibilities will be to ensure that product terms, conditions and pricing are fair and transparent, Powell said.
Employees in the new office will also review complaint data to help identify trends and outcomes. And they will provide advice on policies and training related to employee interactions with consumers, including older adults and people with disabilities, according to the bank.
Scharf, who took over as Wells Fargo’s CEO in October 2019, has said that meeting regulatory requirements is the company’s top priority. Last week,
Wells Fargo is still operating under 10 public enforcement actions, including the costly asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve Board in 2018.
The bank is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results on Friday. It will be the first time that Wells reports results from the five operating units that Scharf established as part of a reorganization last year.
