Defendant Name: Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC

Defendant Type: Subsidiary of Public Company
Public Company Parent: Wells Fargo & Co.
SIC Code: 6021
CUSIP: 94974610

Document Reference: 2018-112

Document Details

Legal Case Name In the Matter of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
Document Name Wells Fargo Advisors Settles SEC Charges for Improper Sales of Complex Financial Products
Document Date 25-Jun-2018
Document Format Administrative Proceeding
File Number 3-18556
Allegation Type Broker Dealer
Document Summary On June 25, 2018, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, stating that "Wells Fargo generated large fees by improperly encouraging retail customers to actively trade the products, which were intended to be held to maturity. As described in the SEC's order, the trading strategy - which involved selling the MLIs before maturity and investing the proceeds in new MLIs - generated substantial fees for Wells Fargo, which reduced the customers' investment returns."

Disgorgement & Penalty Information

Resolutions
Cease and Desist Order
Censured
Remedial Acts or Efforts Before the Resolution
Monetary Penalties:

Disgorgement

Individual:     $930,377.00 Shared:    

Civil Penalty

Individual:     $4,000,000.00 Shared:    

Pre-Judgment Interest

Individual:     $178,064.00 Shared:    

Related Documents:

33-10511 25-Jun-2018 Administrative Proceeding
Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Section 203(e) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-And-Desist Order
According to the SEC, "From at least January 2009 through June 2013, certain registered representatives at Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC ("WFA") and its predecessor Wells Fargo Investments, LLC ("WFI")2 improperly solicited customers to redeem their market-linked investments ("MLI") early and purchase new MLIs without adequate analysis or consideration of the substantial costs associated with such transactions."