Wells Fargo agrees to pay $300 million to settle with shareholders over auto insurance disclosures

Wells Fargo agrees to pay $300 million to settle with shareholders over auto insurance disclosures

(Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co agreed to pay $300 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit claiming the bank hid that it had pushed unnecessary insurance on auto loan customers, according to documents filed in U.S. court on Tuesday.

The Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California, which led the class action brought on behalf of investors, said federal court in San Francisco that Wells Fargo and its former chief executive, Timothy Sloan, had agreed to settle.

The bank did not admit wrongdoing.

The deal requires approval from U.S. Judge James Donato, who is overseeing the case. Trial in the case had been scheduled for Feb. 27.

A spokesperson for Wells Fargo and an attorney who represents Sloan did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The lawsuit stems from one of the San Francisco-based banks past scandals over sales practices that resulted in government investigations and fines.

Wells Fargo disclosed in July 2017 that hundreds of thousands of customers had been unnecessarily charged for “collateral protection insurance,” which covers auto lenders when borrowers are uninsured. The bank said it had learned of concerns a year earlier.

Shareholders sued in 2018, alleging Wells Fargo misled them when Sloan said in November 2016 that he was “not aware of any issues” when asked about the banks sales practices and culture.

The bank also concealed auto insurance issues from the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in November 2016, the investors alleged.

The lawsuit sought damages for investors who bought Wells Fargo shares between Nov. 3, 2016, and Aug. 3, 2017, the day before the bank disclosed further details.

Wells Fargo settled an auto borrower class action in 2019 for $386 million without admitting wrongdoing.

In 2018, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $1 billion to U.S. regulators to settle probes of its auto insurance and mortgage practices.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Chizu Nomiyama, Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)