Wells Fargo is embroiled in another controversy after a lawyer has unauthorizedly released sensitive client information of several thousands of accounts, especially those belonging to wealthy clients of its brokerage unit. Regulators are said to be investigating the incident. According to news reports, the data was mistakenly provided to an attorney as part of a lawsuit involving a Wells Fargo employee and a former employee – both brothers. The reports said representatives of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority contacted at least one of the attorneys involved in the dispute for information about how the breach occurred and how Wells Fargo failed to detect it. The bank was earlier involved in a scam where millions of accounts were opened in its retail banking division without the customers’ permission for over a half decade. The latest incident calls into question the bank’s ability to manage its people and information. The bank spent at least $520 million on fines, remediation, consultants and civil litigation, including a near-final $142-million to consumers who accused the bank of creating bogus accounts.
