Investigation: Wells Fargo Advisors and Cross-Selling

Stoltmann Law Offices recently opened an investigation into alleged sales practice violations by Wells Fargo Advisors and its registered representatives. According to an article entitled “For Wells Fargo, complaints in a new area: its brokerage business,” in the Charlotte Observer, complaints have been surfacing about practices within its national retail brokerage business. On the heels of Wells Fargo being charged $185 million in government fines after employees opened fake deposit and credit card accounts, other sources point to the firm’s brokerage operation, which sells mutual funds, annuities and IRAs. On one particular occasion, a Wells Fargo client couple realized that their broker had liquidated their certificate of deposit without their permission so the bank could open an annuity the couple didn’t request. The couple claimed they never signed paperwork authorizing the transactions.

The bank was also accused of using aggressive “cross-selling” tactics with its bank clients in order to open investment accounts through its brokerage firm, Wells Fargo Advisors. Cross-selling is the practice of selling or suggesting related or complementary products to a prospect or customer, and can mean significant profits for broker and financial advisers, and large fees for clients. According to a former bank branch manager, new account goals had minimum sales requirements across all product lines, which became almost impossible to meet.

The investigation into Wells Fargo deals with whether or not the bank’s representatives steered customers into opening investment accounts through high-pressure sales tactics motivated by contests, which paid incentives to the referring employees. In this case, investor rights may have been violated, resulting in unsuitable investment recommendations. Wells Fargo Advisors and its parent Wells Fargo Bank, may have failed to supervise the “cross-selling” activities of their bank employees and financial advisers, and, for this, the bank may be held responsible for investment losses in the arbitration forum. Wells Fargo may be sued for unsuitable recommendations, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentations and omissions of material facts and failure to supervise. The attorneys of Stoltmann Law Offices take cases such as these to bring legal action against banks such as Wells Fargo to recover money for clients on a contingency fee basis. Please call us today to find out how you may be able to bring legal recourse against Wells Fargo. The call is free with no obligation. 312-332-4200.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161010006092/en/Wells-Fargo-Brokerage-Customer-Alert—-Securities