Wells Fargo CEO to tout risk management, remediation to U.S. Congress

(Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive Tim Sloan will tout the scandal-plagued bank’s progress in repaying wrongly charged customers and highlight changes to its risk management in testimony to U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday, according to prepared remarks.

Since 2016, Wells Fargo has reviewed 165 million accounts, contacted more than 40 million customers and payed out millions in compensation stemming from sales practices issues, Sloan said in an opening statement to the House Financial Services Committee that was posted on the bank’s website on Monday.

The remarks detailed other steps the bank has taken to improve its culture and interactions with customers in order to move past a series of sales practices scandals.

But Sloan will likely face tough questions on Tuesday from House Democrats like U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are seeking to ramp up oversight of big banks.

Wells Fargo’s remediation efforts have also faced scrutiny from U.S. regulators who say the plans were not thorough enough.

The bank has improved risk management controls by centralizing oversight and restructuring its board in order to prevent new problems from developing, the remarks said.

Last year, the Federal Reserve imposed a consent order on the bank, preventing it from growing its balance sheet until it proves it has improved its risk management controls.

Sloan said the bank has thousands of employees working to satisfy the Fed’s requirements and that Wells Fargo executives and board members have been meeting regularly with U.S. banking regulators to address their concerns and seek input.

Earlier this year the bank said it expects to operate under the asset cap until the end of 2019, pushing back prior guidance by six months.