Wells Fargo & Co. on Friday reported a 31 percent decline in third-quarter profit as the bank racked up costs related to a fake accounts scandal and boosted its loan loss reserves in preparation for a potential slowdown.
The bank posted $2 billion in operating losses related to litigation, customer remediation, and regulatory matters associated with the now six-year-old scandal over its sales practices.
“Outstanding litigation, customer remediation and regulatory matters still remain and will likely result in additional expense in the coming quarters, which could be significant,” Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said.
“Our top priority remains strengthening our risk and control infrastructure which includes addressing open historical issues and issues that are identified as we advance this work,” Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf said in a statement….