Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf was asked to testify in Washington on the bank’s alleged misconduct after it agreed to pay fines over claims that it opened more than 2 million unauthorized accounts. The lender instructed workers in U.S. call centers to temporarily halt cross-selling of financial products.
The Senate Banking Committee plans to hold a hearing Sept. 20 on Wells Fargo, following last week’s enforcement case in which regulators accused bank employees of opening deposit and credit-card accounts without customer approval to meet sales goals. Stumpf is among the executives who’ve been asked to appear, a spokeswoman for the committee said Monday.
The allegations have been a black eye for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. home lender and a marquee investment for billionaire Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the bank’s largest shareholder. The cross-selling suspension is among a list of the bank’s responses to the case.
“We asked the team to pause on the sales part of our calls,” Mary Eshet, a spokeswoman for the lender, said Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the suspension and the hearing.
Business owners still tepid on economy
Small-business owners aren’t very upbeat about the economy, but they’re also not particularly pessimistic. That’s the finding of a semiannual survey of owners taken in July and August and released last week by the advocacy group National Small Business Association.
Owners’ view of the economy has changed little from a similar survey taken in December. When asked to compare the economy now versus a year ago, 32 percent said it was improved, the same number as in December. A third said it was worse, up slightly from 29 percent. And 35 percent described the economy as about the same, down from 39 percent.
In its analysis, the NSBA said the negativity of the presidential election campaign likely is the biggest contributor to owners’ lack of enthusiasm about the economy. The NSBA noted that only 44 percent of owners said the economy is better off than it was five years ago, although the economy is actually greatly improved since 2011.
Potash, Agrium to form huge crop company
NEW YORK >> Potash Corp. and Agrium said Monday that they are combining to create the world’s largest crop nutrient company. The Canadian companies both sell fertilizers and nutrients to farmers that help them grow their crops. The new company will have 20,000 employees, a market value of $36 billion and annual revenue of $20.6 billion, the companies said. Potash shareholders will own about 52 percent of the new company and Agrium shareholders will own about 48 percent.
China’s EV industry shaken by scandal
BEIJING >> China’s electric vehicle industry, a flagship for Beijing’s technology ambitions, has been rocked by scandal after five companies were caught collecting millions of dollars in subsidies for buses they never made.
The affair of the phantom buses has prompted questions about whether the ruling Communist Party’s financial support to an industry it is spending heavily to promote might be disrupted.
The Finance Ministry announced that five manufacturers were fined for fraudulently collecting a total of more than 1 billion yuan ($120 million) in subsidies. Chinese news reports, citing unidentified industry sources, say as many as 20 others might be in trouble.
The government gave no indication whether managers at the companies might be prosecuted. The Finance Ministry said 90 companies were investigated but didn’t identify any of the others.
“‘Subsidy fraud’ will do a lot of damage to development of the new energy vehicle industry,” the deputy general secretary of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Xu Yanhua, told the newspaper Economic Observer.
Communist leaders see electric cars, solar and wind power and other “new energy” as promising fields with no established competitors.
HP buying printer business for $1.05B
NEW YORK >> HP is buying Samsung Electronics Co.’s printer business in a transaction worth $1.05 billion. HP Inc. said Monday it is the largest print acquisition in the company’s history and will help it go from traditional copiers to multifunction printers. HP also said the deal will strengthen its position in laser printing, which it established with Canon.
On the Move
Anthology Marketing Group has announced the following promotions and new hires: Derek Paiva to director of editorial content, public relations group from editorial content manager. He has served at the firm since June 2015. Kevin Wong as print production manager, advertising group. He was previously global brand services graphic manager for Outrigger Enterprises Group. Stefani Wan as senior account executive, public relations group. She was previously director of public relations and marketing for Esente Communications in Malaysia. Julia Street as digital media strategist, advertising group. She was previously an account executive at ER Marketing.
