Wells Fargo Acknowledges Federal Settlement Offer of $1 Billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wells Fargo is acknowledging that Federal regulators have offered to resolve a host of investigations into the consumer banking giant for $1 billion. The disclosure comes as Wells reports a 6 percent increase in first-quarter profit.

Wells continues to navigate several investigations related to the opening of fake customer accounts, forcing customers to take unnecessary auto insurance policies, unfairly charging fees tied to mortgage rates and other matters. Well says the potential $1 billion penalty involves the auto insurance and mortgage fee matters.

The bank reported first-quarter earnings of $5.9 billion, or $1.12 per share, better than the 5.46 billion and $1.03 per share for the same period last year.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of $1.06 per share.