A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith (This version of the July 6th story corrects statement in final paragraph to say that Wells Fargo replaced its chief executive, who retired; he was not fired.) By Dan Freed (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) said on Thursday it had created a new division combining investor relations, corporate communications, government relations and public policy, the latest of several organizational changes following a sales scandal that tarnished the bank’s reputation. The new division, which the bank called a “Stakeholder Relations” group, will be led by Jim Rowe, who had previously been in charge of investor relations. Rowe will report to Chief Administrative Officer Hope Hardison, effective immediately, Wells Fargo said in a statement. Investor relations had previously been separate from the other functions and reported to Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry. The change comes after an internal investigation found the bank was too decentralized, a problem that contributed to a culture that allowed employees to create as many as 2.1 million unauthorized customer accounts without getting the necessary attention from top management. Since the scandal, Wells Fargo replaced its chief executive, who retired, and has overhauled its government relations and public policy unit. Reporting by Dan Freed in New York and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Gabriella Borter
Wells Fargo announced last week that it had created a division drawing together corporate communications, government relations, investor relations and public policy. The move is the latest organisational shift to follow in the wake of the false accounts scandal which resulted in a $185 fine for the bank in 2016. The new “Stakeholder Relations” group will be led by Administrative Officer, formerly in charge of investor relations, who will report to Chief Jim Rowe, Hope Hardison. An internal investigation found that too much decentralisation had exacerbated problems at the bank.