New York: Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan, who became the target of criticism over the handling of a damaging scandal, is stepping down from his post “effective immediately,” the bank announced.
Sloan, who was promoted to CEO in October 2016 after Wells Fargo’s fake accounts scandal was uncovered, said he made the hard decision to exit to avoid serving as a “distraction” from the efforts to recover. The 31-year-old veteran of the bank also will leave the board immediately, and then retire from the company June 30, Wells Fargo said in a statement.
“This was my decision based on what I thought was best for Wells Fargo because there’s just been too much focus on me and it was affecting our ability to move forward,” Sloan said on a conference call.
Sloan was tapped as CEO to replace John Stumpf just weeks after the fake accounts scandal broke. Wells Fargo has settled a number of cases over the massive fraud, with penalties of over $750 million, in addition to a $2.1 billion fine stemming from the 2008 financial crisis. And the Federal Reserve imposed an unusual and strict growth limit on the bank. — AFP
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