Warren says Sloan’s hands ‘too dirty’ to clean Wells Fargo

Elizabeth Warren’s presidential ambitions are becoming another headache for Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan.

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts took to Twitter to again call for Sloan’s ouster, highlighting what’s poised to be a long campaign season for the bank’s leader.

The tweet comes after Sloan said Friday on CNBC that Warren’s opinion of him “isn’t always informed.”

Elizabeth-Warren-Jan2019
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks during an organizing event in Claremont, New Hampshire, U.S. Photographer: Scott Eisen/Bloomberg

“It’s clear that Tim Sloan isn’t the right person to try to clean up @WellsFargo,” Warren said in a tweet. “His hands are too dirty from overseeing years of scams and scandals. That’s not just an ‘informed’ opinion. That’s a fact.”

Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has repeatedly called for Sloan’s ouster in the wake of a series of sales scandals at the bank that erupted in 2016, saying he’s been at the bank too long to be the right person to clean it up.

Sloan, who took over when his predecessor John Stumpf was ousted in 2016, has been at Wells Fargo for more than 30 years.

Sloan has taken steps to implement “transformational change at the company,” including bolstering the bank’s compliance and bringing in new leadership, and will keep lawmakers updated on his progress, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Erika Reynoso said in an emailed statement.

“Since November 2016, under Tim’s direction, the company has undergone an extensive review process and has been working diligently to address and resolve the problems of the past, take care of our customers promptly and fairly, and transparently describe our progress,” Reynoso said.

Bloomberg News
C-suite Regulatory actions and programs Elizabeth Warren Tim Sloan Wells Fargo
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