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ANC 3/4G ResolutionSupporting the Sense of the Council UrgingReassessment of Relationship WithWells Fargo Resolution of 2017?1.Wells Fargo & Company is an American international banking and financial services holding company headquartered in San Francisco, California.2.Wells Fargo serves as the District of Columbia’s bank of record and the trustee of the District’s general obligation direct purchase bonds.3.Wells Fargo is in the third year of a five-year contract with the District of Columbia that includes: (a) cash and treasury management services, including payroll management, up to $12,408,397, (b) management of a $2 billion investment portfolio, effective February 1, 2017, and (c) trustee of the District’s General Obligation Direct Purchase Bonds (approximately $400,000 issued in November 2016).4.In 2012, Wells Fargo settled a proceeding brought by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that Wells Fargo targeted African-American and Hispanic borrowers for risky subprime mortgages and charged them higher fees than other borrowers because of their race or national origin, rather than based on objective criteria related to borrower risk. 5.In February 2016, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle a civil mortgage lawsuit claim with the Federal Housing Administration for faulty mortgage loans that contributed to the 2008 housing crash. 6.In September 2016, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for employing high-pressure sales tactics, deceiving its customers, and fraudulently collecting fees for at least 3.5 million unauthorized accounts.7.Also in September 2016, Wells Fargo was fined $24 million by regulators for overcharging active duty military servicemen, including improper seizures of soldiers’ vehicles.8.In January 2017, Wells Fargo Advisors agreed to pay $35.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the bank engaged in an ongoing nationwide pattern and practice of race discrimination with respect to its African American financial advisors. 9.In March 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave Wells Fargo a grade of “needs to improve” on its Community Reinvestment Act exam due to “an extensive and pervasive pattern and practice of discriminatory and illegal credit practices across multiple lines of business within the bank, resulting in significant harm to large numbers of consumers.”10.In July 2017, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $80 million in a settlement with 570,000 auto loan customers after adding those customers involuntarily to Wells Fargo auto insurance policies, which caused almost 20,000 customers to lose their cars to repossession when they did not pay the insurance premiums that they did not know existed.11.In 2017, Wells Fargo was one of the only major international banking and financial services holding companies that did not advocate for upholding the Paris Climate Agreement.12.Wells Fargo currently faces a federal lawsuit alleging that it illegally denied student loans to young immigrants because of their citizenship status, even though those “dreamers” are protected from deportation and are legally allowed to work and study in the U.S.13.Wells Fargo has directly invested in the Potomac, Keystone XL, and Dakota Access Pipelines and stands to profit from environmentally suspect projects that threaten the water supplies in the metropolitan D.C. area, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and other communities, farms, sensitive natural areas, and wildlife habitats through which they pass.14.Based on these investigations, settlements, and allegations against Wells Fargo, cities and organizations across the country, including Seattle, Washington (divested $3 billion), Davis, California (divested $124 million), Santa Barbara, California (divested $40 million), and the University of California system (divested $475 million) have officially moved to divest from Wells Fargo.15.The District of Columbia should seek to partner with business entities and financial institutions that are committed to engaging in responsible business practices and supporting the values of District’s citizens, ANC 3/4G, and the District as a whole.16.The District of Columbia should consider moving its money held by Wells Fargo to institutions that are socially and environmentally responsible in their general practices and community development goals.17.ANC 3/4G urges the Council of the District of Columbia to pass the resolution entitled “Sense of the Council Urging Reassessment of Relationship with Wells Fargo Resolution of 2017” (PR22-0188, available at ). 18.ANC 3/4G requests that the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Financial Officer provide ANC 3/4G with records of the public comment periods for any District financial action with Wells Fargo and with assessments of Community Development Plans, as required by § 26-431.04 of the District of Columbia Code.19.ANC 3/4G requests that the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking research and devise a plan for a replacement bank that invests in local institutions that serve the District’s banking needs, including those of the District’s unbanked population, and consider the possibility of establishing a public bank after completing and publishing the results of its impending public bank feasibility study. Approved by the ANC at its regularly scheduled and noticed November 27, 2017 meeting by a vote of _ to _ (a quorum being 4).____________________________________________________________Randy Speck, ChairBecky Maydak, Secretary ................
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