SAN FRANCISCO–Despite nearly $200 million in fines, lawsuits and extensive bad press related to its bogus account-opening scandal, shareholders of Wells Fargo voted to re-elect all of the bank’s directors, although in some cases by slim majorities.
During what was described by the Wall Street Journal as a “contentious three-hour shareholder meeting,” the bank said that all 15 directors were re-elected, but longer-serving directors who were around before the problems erupted received approvals as low as 53% of shares voted. The shareholder meeting had to be halted at several points due to complaints being voiced.
Wells Fargo said in a press release that Chairman Stephen Sanger received only 56% approval, and that long-serving directors received less than 81% and that shareholders “sent the entire board a clear message of dissatisfaction.” The head of the bank’s risk committee, Enrique Hernandez, received the lowest majority, 53%, according to Wells Fargo.
At the meeting, one bank shareholder refused to stop asking individual directors to explain what they knew about the sales practices scandal, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Sanger and Chief Executive Timothy Sloan repeatedly asked the shareholder to sit down and wait until the question-and-answer period began,” the Journal reported. “The shareholder said the bank and board’s response was ‘not good enough,’ and he wanted more details from each director.”
That shareholder later made a “physical approach to our board members and ultimately we removed him from the meeting,” Wells Fargo said.
Wells Fargo said that six directors will hit retirement age in the next four years and will step away from the board with “significant turnover,” and has been emphasizing that point in recent days, the Wall Street Journal said.