Until criminal charges are brought against big banks and their employees for potentially criminal acts, banks will continue to evade the law, knowing they will merely face fines as the cost of doing business and thus be free to continue being sleazy. Wells Fargo is one of the worst, with a long list of offenses yet curiously, no one ever goes to prison. This seems to be regulatory capture, where public agencies charged with regulation or enforcing laws against an entity mostly protect the entity or impose fines instead of filing criminal charges. As an example of what should be done, when real estate and the economy of Iceland cratered, Iceland nationalized the banks and put banksters in prison.
Just recently:
Los Angeles sues Wells Fargo, alleging fraud by employees
Wells Fargo Bank employees driven by strict sales pressure issued unwanted credit cards and opened unauthorized accounts that charged customers fees and damaged their credit, according to a lawsuit filed by the city of Los Angeles.
The civil complaint filed Monday contends the largest California-based bank violated state and federal laws by misusing confidential information and failing to notify customers when personal information was breached, City Attorney Mike Feuer said at a Tuesday news conference.
Wells Fargo settles Ponzi scheme lawsuit for more than $3 million.
Thousands of victims — many of them working-class Haitian Americans from South Florida — are one step closer to receiving restitution for a Ponzi scheme that bilked them out of at least $30 million.
Wikipedia has more on the seemingly endless civil charges against Wells Fargo, including subsidiary Wachovia laundering drug money, high cost subprime loans targeting Blacks and Latinos, gouging customers, a HUD investigation, and much more.