By Karen Freifeld and Chris Prentice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of Wells Fargo & Co's (N:WFC) top regulators plans to announce enforcement actions against as many as 10 individuals in relation to the bank's sales practices scandal as soon as Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) actions will target a "breadth" of individuals, including former executives, for their role in the scandal that erupted three years ago, a second person with knowledge of the discussions said. The actions may result in monetary penalties against the individuals and bans from working for OCC-regulated banks, one of the sources said.
Wells Fargo declined to comment. A spokesman for the OCC did not immediately provide comment.
The OCC actions would mark the first time a federal government agency has sought to punish individuals for their roles in the San Francisco-based lender's scandal, instead of just the institution.
The country's fourth largest U.S. lender has paid out more than $4 billion in fines and penalties since the 2016 revelation that the bank's sales practices encouraged employees to open potentially millions of unauthorized bank accounts in order to hit lofty sales targets.
Since then, internal and external probes have uncovered issues in each of Wells Fargo's major business lines, including wealth management and the commercial bank. The fallout has also resulted in the Federal Reserve imposing an unprecedented growth restriction on Wells Fargo's balance sheet until it proves it has fixed its risk management and controls.
Last year roughly 20 former and then-current Wells Fargo executives and directors settled scandal-related allegations in private litigation brought by shareholders for $240 million.