WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement with Wells Fargo and Company and Wells Fargo Bank and GreatBanc Trust Company – a plan trustee – that recovers more than $131.8 million for the retirement plan’s participants after a department investigation found that, from 2013 through 2018, the fund overpaid for company stock purchased for the plan.
Wells Fargo also agreed to pay a penalty of nearly $13.2 million as part of the settlement. Wells Fargo and GreatBanc entered into the settlement without admitting or denying the allegations made by the department.
The action follows an investigation by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration that determined Wells Fargo and GreatBanc Trust Company caused the 401(k) plan to pay between $1,033 and $1,090 per share for Wells Fargo preferred stock. Specifically designed for the plan, the stock converted to a set value of $1,000 in Wells Fargo common stock when allocated to participants. In transactions between 2013 and 2018, the plan borrowed money from Wells Fargo to purchase the preferred stock.
In addition to its discovery that Wells Fargo and GreatBanc caused the plan to pay more for stock than it would be worth when deposited in participants’ accounts, EBSA investigators learned Wells Fargo used the dividends paid on the preferred shares to defray its obligation to make contributions to the 401(k) plan, by using the dividends to repay the stock purchase loans. The investigation...
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