Why Wells
Scandal Matters so much?
為何美國富國銀行的醜聞案如此嚴重? (1)-
【編按】：
美國最大商業銀行-Wells Fargo最近發生了驚天動地的醜聞案，由上層鼓勵下層員工揑造帳户，然後由銀行，編列應支費用，套利。是內場吃外塲? 套取FDR(聯邦儲備銀行) 補貼? 或內場吃內塲? 內部員工勾結吃總行? 此事2013年即爆出，迄今才在参院財務委員會，参議員Elizabeth Warren大聲痛責，Wells Fargo高層員工的『明知故犯』、『恬不知恥』。若負責行事高官- Carrie Tolstedt可能因此丟官，但仍可獲1億2仟萬美金的退休金，而最高執行長-CEO (John Stumpf) 則可得高達兩億美元……。這是什麽世界? 以前銀行舞弊案都發生在公家銀行，現在民營行庫(private sector) 也軋了一脚，而且還青出於藍，令人嘆為觀止。
**在市場資本化(market capitalization) 上，2015年Wells Fargo全球第一，2016年全球第二，僅次於Chase，但在花旗(Citicorp)銀行之前。
Scandals
in banking, finance, and housing rocked the world, causing a global financial
meltdown and the Great Recession. While the economy and the financial sector
eventually recovered, the fallout from the financial crisis kept the papers
full of misdeeds and improper actions within finance. A certain numbness must
have come over large sections of the public who could hardly muster shock
anymore when this latest new scandal was uncovered at Wells Fargo.
富國銀行CEO
John Stumpf 的豪宅
在銀行、 金融和住房醜聞轟動了世界，造成全球的金融危機和經濟大蕭條。雖然經濟和金融部門最終回復了，但來自金融危機餘波的傷害，繼續使財務書面充滿違法行為和金融內部的若干不當。當這個最新的醜聞發生在富國銀行時，大眾的大多部們遭受了若干麻木的感覺，但這些大眾幾乎無法再感到震驚。(見怪不怪乎?)
富比士雜誌 :管用的銀行 醜聞案黑手套主角- Carrie Tolstedt
Yet yesterday’s hearing before the
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee achieved something that
prior scandals had not. As Senator John Tester (D-MT)
noted, Wells Fargo’s practices had “done something I’ve never seen
in 10 years: You have united this committee — and not in a good way.”Why is
this scandal different and why should we be more concerned about it? Because
this improper action gets at the heart of the entire financial system: trust
between consumers and banks.
然而在國會參議院銀行、 住房和城市事務委員會所舉行的，昨天的聽證會取得了之前醜聞案所未獲得的成就。參議員約翰(民主黨蒙州選出) 指出，富國銀行的做法是本人過去10 年來從未看到︰ 你們聯了這個委員會 — 但聯合得不好。 不是一個好辦法。"為什麼這樁醜聞與過去不同，又為什麼我們應該更關心它？因為此不當的操作，觸動整了金融體系的核心︰消費者與銀行之間的信用問題。
The core of
the entire financial system is trust. Customers
trust banks with their money. Banks trust that consumers will repay loans.
Investors trust broker-dealers that they will provide them advice in their best
interest and get the best price, not the brokers’ highest commission. Without trust, the entire financial system collapses. Financial crises occur, in part, because trust is
suddenly lost. Fundamentally the private sector has to build and maintain
trust, while the government can serve to enhance it. The government works to
enforce this trust through a series of explicit government guarantees such as
deposit insurance, laws and regulations to require proper action, and
enforcement and oversight to ensure punishment and remuneration when laws and
contracts are violated.
整個金融體系的核心就是信任問題。客戶相信銀行，才把他們的錢存放在銀行。銀行相信消費者會償還貸款。投資者信任銀行經紀，會提提供他們最有利的建議，得到最好的利益價格，而不是經紀商的最高佣金。若沒有信任，整個金融體系崩潰。金融危機發生，局部因為信用突然丟失。基本上私營公司必須建立和保持信用，而公營機構則可以加強信用管理。政府的功能在強制執行此一信用，透過一系列明確的政府擔保，例如存款保險、法律和法規的製定，以要求適當的行動、强制執行和監督，以確保處罰和補償損失，當犯法情事發生的時候。
The actions that Wells Fargo
undertook violated this trust on the most basic levels. What Wells, America’s largest
commercial bank by domestic assets, did was to open unauthorized bank, credit
card, and other accounts for their customers on a massive scale. These
accounts, which consumers did not authorize or even know about, then triggered
various fees, which were charged to consumers. More than 5,000 Wells Fargo
employees were involved in the operation, which was incentivized by offering
bonuses and other pressure to Wells employees to create accounts.
富國的違法行為，違背了這種最基本的信用承諾。若依美國國內資產評估，屬於最大商業銀行的富國銀行，大規模開放未經授權的銀行、 信用卡和其他帳戶。在這些帳戶中，消費者既沒有授權也甚至不知道，然後觸發了向消費者收取的各項收費。富國銀行員工超過 5000 人參與此項違法運作，它以提供獎金來激勵員工，或向員工施壓，以創立虛假帳戶。
These activities went on for
several years from 2011-2013, when they were first detected. It is unclear how
long they continued, and even after yesterday’s hearing, it is unclear exactly
when Wells CEO John Stumpf first knew about them, despite his having frequent
direct access with the executive in charge of this program Carrie Tolstedt.
When asked directly by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) whether Stumpf knew about
the activities before they were reported in the L.A. Times in
2013, Stumpf said, “I don’t remember the exact timeframe. I can get back to
you.” A low point in a hearing full of low points for the CEO.
這些活動持續從 2011年進行到2013 年，而首次才被查覺。尚不清楚他們繼續了多長時間，甚至在昨天的聽證會後，也不清楚到底執行長約翰施通普夫，何時首次才知道這些違法行為，儘管他經常與負責此運作的官員嘉莉 Tolstedt保持接觸。當被俄亥俄州選出的参議員謝羅德布朗問到，在 2013 年洛杉磯時報刊出之前，是否施通普夫知道相關的行為，施通普夫說，"我不記得確切的時間。我查出才回復你"。在一次聽證會中，講話充滿低調的一位執行長。
未完
Justin Lai編譯
09/27/2016
