US eases restrictions on Wells Fargo after years of strict oversight following scandal

The Biden Administration is easing its restrictions on banking giant Wells Fargo, saying the bank has sufficiently fixed its toxic culture after years of scandals

NEW YORK -- The Biden Administration is easing its restrictions on banking giant Wells Fargo, saying the bank has sufficiently fixed its toxic culture after years of scandals.

The news sent Wells Fargo's stock up sharply Thursday as investors speculated that the bank, which has been kept under a tight leash by regulators for years, may be able to rebuild its reputation and start growing again.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator of big national banks like Wells, terminated its consent order on Thursday that had been in place since September 2016. The order required Wells to overhaul how it sold financial products to customers and provide additional consumer protections, as well as employee protections for whistleblowers.

After a series of newspaper and regulatory investigations in 2016, Wells was found to have a poisonous sales culture that would pressure employees into selling multiple products to customers though such products were not needed. Millions of unauthorized accounts were opened, severely tarnishing the reputation of Wells Fargo, once among the most sterling in banking.

Since the scandal broke, Wells overhauled its board of directors and management, paid more than a billion dollars in fines and penalties, and has spent eight years trying to show the public that its bad practices were behind it. Employees have started unionizing at some branches, with little push back from management.