*By Bridgette Webb*
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wants regulators to exert serious pressure on Wells Fargo ー pressure she hopes will result in the resignation of CEO Tim Sloan. But it's unclear whether the Senator's coaxing will have any real effect, said Pete Schroeder, a financial correspondent at Reuters.
"On paper, Warren can't make the Fed do anything," Schroeder said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
The central bank is an independent regulator and technically can't make Wells Fargo ($WFC) do anything either, he pointed out. And the board "so far has been supportive of Tim Sloan."
"What's interesting with this new letter is that Warren is trying to enlist the Fed in her effort. Her argument is that you can't overhaul the bank's policies and keep Tim Sloan, who has been at the bank for 30 years," Schroeder said.
Wells first came under fire in 2016 when news surfaced that employees secretly created millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts without customers' knowledge. The phony accounts charged customers with unjustified fees and allowed Wells employees to boost their sales figures and earn more in commissions.
The massive scandal resulted in the ouster of then-CEO John Stumpf and the promotion of Sloan, who was the bank's president at the time. He'd also previously served as chief operating officer and CFO.
But under his leadership, issues have continued to rock the bank, including the news that it improperly repossessed military service members’ cars.
In a letter to the Federal Reserve on Thursday, Warren argued that Sloan is profoundly implicated in the bank's misconduct.
"\[She's\] really putting a lot of pressure on the bank and really pushing for \[it\] to really overhaul the organization, basically saying it's clear that they are not running the bank in anything close to an appropriate fashion."
According to Schroeder, "Warren has been on the bank from the first scandal."
In February, the Fed made the unprecedented move of ordering Wells Fargo to keep its assets below $2 trillion, saying the company had prioritized growth over compliance with regulation. Warren wants to keep that cap on business in place until Sloan is essentially forced to resign.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-sen-warren-cant-force-the-fed-to-remove-wells-fargo-ceo).
President Donald Trump on Thursday broke convention when his holiday call to troops took an unusually political turn. On his call with a general stationed in Afghanistan ー and during the questions with reporters that followed ーTrump made controversial comments on the courts, trade, and the caravan of migrants heading toward the border between the U.S. and Mexico. "This is a highly politicized environment, especially with President Trump ー that's his style," Nick Givas, a reporter at the Daily Caller, told Cheddar on Friday.
As Americans hit the road in record numbers this holiday, low gas prices are poised to act as a boon for consumer spending. Drivers are already saving $100 million a day at the pump over just last month, according to GasBuddy.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018.
As Canada battles a nationwide marijuana shortage, Massachusetts dispensaries opened to recreational users on Tuesday. Regulatory bottlenecks and unforeseen demand have caused disruptions in Canada's marijuana supply ー but don't expect the trouble to cease next year. Khurram Malik, CEO of cannabis supplier Biome Grow, said he anticipates disorder in Canadian cannabis well into 2019.
With news that the White House Correspondents' Dinner will break a long-standing tradition by replacing a comedian host with a historian, Jon Levine, media editor at The Wrap, discusses whether the event should even exist anymore.
What role exactly does Facebook play in society? Does it do more good than harm ー or more harm than good? Is it too big to control? Existential questions like these are beginning to circulate as the world's largest social network finds itself embroiled in yet another state of crisis.
Apple talks a big game on customer privacy -- but that hasn't stopped it from making billions through its partnership with ad-based search engine Google. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Apple ($AAPL) CEO Tim Cook defended his company's relationship with the world's leading search engine, and discussed the potential for regulation in tech, which he considers inevitable.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.
Tubi Daily News Powered By Cheddar for the Afternoon of 11/19/18
The clamor to impeach President Trump has increased in volume since Democrats won back the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month ー and one member of the chorus is former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who said the president's term recalls another dark period in American political history.
