Wells Fargo sales tactics reportedly under investigation

Aggressive sales tactics at Wells Fargo Bank, already the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles city attorney, appear to have drawn the attention of federal regulators.

The inquiries, like a lawsuit filed this year by the Los Angeles city attorney, appear related to allegations that the San Francisco banking giant has employed a high-pressure sales system that encourages illegal behavior by employees.

The bank’s practices came to light in a 2013 Times investigation that found Wells Fargo employees, facing strict sales quotas and fearing retribution from their superiors, created accounts without customers’ knowledge and even forged customers’ signatures.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a civil suit against Wells Fargo in May, alleging that bank employees opened unauthorized accounts and used other illegal tactics to meet rigid and unrealistic sales goals.

In a June filing responding to the city’s suit, the bank’s attorneys said various federal laws put the bank beyond the reach of local officials and that federal agencies are responsible for regulating national banks.

Ely also speculated that if federal regulators and the San Francisco Fed are looking into Wells Fargo over customer complaints, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency created in the wake of the financial crisis by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, could be involved, too.