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Mortgage Volumes Dropped 70% in Q4 for Wells Fargo

Mortgage Volumes Dropped 70% in Q4 for Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo lets go of 500+ employees in its home-lending mortgage arm after volume comes to a halt

Robert Baron & Anna Lad
February 24, 2023

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Banking News

500 Jobs Cut at Wells Fargo

The San Francisco-based bank let go of 500+ employees in its home-lending mortgage arm.

The move comes as Wells Fargo concentrates more on “existing customers” and tries to recoup losses after mortgage volumes dropped 70% in Q4.

Citi CEO Jane Fraser Gets a Raise

Amid pay decreases between other U.S. bank CEOs, Citi Bank’s CEO Jane Fraser received a $2M pay raise in 2022, increasing her yearly compensation to $24.5M. The 8.9% raise puts her salary on par with other bank CEOs, such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Citi phrased Fraser’s raise as a reward for successful exits from 12+ international markets and a company-wide technology upgrade. The bank’s board stated:

Under Ms. Fraser’s leadership, Citi made solid progress on each of our priorities, and the compensation committee recognizes the strategic direction that took shape during 2022.

Citi Board

Credit Union News

CUs Embrace 72-hr Hacking Alert Window

A final ruling from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) states that American credit unions must report cyberattacks within 72 hours of the incident’s occurrence.

The window is twice as long as that for banks, but regulators believe having a reporting deadline will improve institutional security and investigations’ success rate.

Legislators & CUNA Oppose IRS Data-Harvesting

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA), along with Congressman Drew Ferguson (R-GA) and Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), support the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act. The support comes after the IRS has attempted to gain access to credit union members’ data, such as individual withdrawals and deposits.

In CUNA’s letter of support, CEO Jim Nussle said:

This new proposal would result in banks and credit unions turning over to the IRS sensitive account details that in and of themselves do not constitute taxable events. This would leave the IRS with a massive trove of personal financial data that would be used in a manner that is not detailed in the proposal. This is risky and dangerous.

Jim Nussle

Financial Services & Blockchain

Government Agencies Reclassify Stablecoin

A three-way statement from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) issued a statement urging caution when managing stablecoin deposits. Cryptocurrency assets have higher liquidity risks than traditional assets and must be monitored more intensely.

The joint government statement said:

Certain sources of funding from crypto-asset-related entities may pose heightened liquidity risks to banking organizations due to the unpredictability of the scale and timing of deposit inflows and outflows.

OCC, Fed, & FDIC Joint Statement

Four More Fraud Charges for FTX Co-Founder

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has received four additional fraud charges atop the eight he pleaded not guilty to in December 2022.

The new fraud charges concern both securities fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Bankman-Fried allegedly used false names to open bank accounts and make illegal contributions to political campaigns.