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Wells Fargo Private BankWF
Wells Fargo Private Bank review

Wells Fargo Bank, National Association

Two stars: serious findings on the record and a recurring failure.

Booking centreUnited States
RegulatorOCC
Legal formLocally incorporated subsidiary
GroupWells Fargo & Company
Founded1870
Websitewellsfargo.com
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PPLI.com
Private Bank Rating
2 out of 5 stars
Editorial assessment on UHNW criteria
Reviewed 6 November 2026 · Q4 2026 edition
Updated every quarter
Rating signed byNoam CohenEditor, Bank Intelligence
About the rating
2 out of 5, Q4 2026 edition
Publishedshown as published, not compared
8matters on the record, 2016 to 2024
Not publishedminimum relationship
The editor's opinion

Why Wells Fargo Private Bank has two stars

Wells Fargo Private Bank earns two stars. What holds the rating down: serious adverse findings against this licence holder in the last ten years. The same kind of failure has recurred. In its favour: custody assets are protected by statute in the booking centre, with conditions a family should read. Still to be confirmed: whether past findings were remediated and whether external asset managers have a dedicated desk. The rating counts only what is on file.

Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026, Q4 2026 edition. The rating weighs the public record together with what clients and their advisers tell us in confidence; retail products, branches and apps play no part.

Where Wells Fargo Private Bank stands out

  • Custody assets are protected by statute in the booking centre, with conditions a family should read.
  • Deposits are covered by a statutory protection scheme.
  • A broad range of private banking services is published for this booking unit.
  • Most fees are published.
  • Ownership and control are fully public.

What to weigh

  • Serious adverse findings against this licence holder in the last ten years.
  • The same kind of failure has recurred.
  • The last adverse finding is recent.
  • Only a summary of the custody terms is public.
  • No public policy on third-party payments or retrocessions.
  • No public account of how the issues behind past findings were remediated.

The rating expresses the opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown. It is not a statement of fact about the bank, not a credit rating, not a forecast of failure and not investment advice.

The record

Regulatory and legal record

What regulators, prosecutors and courts have decided, recorded against the legal entity they named, with the status, the amounts as published and a link to the original document. Claims and investigations still under way are marked as open.

202412 September 2024

Formal agreement on deficiencies in financial crimes risk management and anti-money laundering controls

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency entered a formal agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, National Association on 12 September 2024 citing deficiencies in financial crimes risk management and anti-money laundering internal controls, covering suspicious activity reporting, currency transaction reporting, customer due diligence, customer identification and beneficial ownership. It requires corrective action on the bank's Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and US sanctions compliance programmes, and no penalty was announced. The bank's own statement adds that OCC approval is needed for its new-product risk method and that it must give notice before expanding certain products.

Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencySupervisory measurePrimary source
202330 March 2023

Settlement of apparent violations of Iran, Sudan and Syria sanctions

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. agreed on 30 March 2023 to remit USD 30 million to OFAC to settle its potential civil liability for 124 apparent violations of Iran, Sudan and Syria sanctions through a trade finance platform first built by Wachovia.

has agreed to remit $30,000,000 to settle its potential civil liability for 124 apparent violations
Office of Foreign Assets Control (US Treasury)Settlement without admissionSettlement USD 30 millionPrimary source
202220 December 2022

Consent order: mismanagement of auto loans, mortgages and deposit accounts

The CFPB ordered Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. to pay more than USD 2 billion in consumer redress and a USD 1.7 billion civil penalty (USD 3.7 billion total) for unfair and deceptive practices in auto loan servicing, mortgage modifications and foreclosures, overdraft fees and account freezes.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is ordering Wells Fargo Bank to pay more than $2 billion in redress
Consumer Financial Protection BureauSettlement without admissionRestitution USD 2,000 million; Penalty USD 1,700 millionCFPB order ended 28 January 2025 under its own termsPrimary source
20219 September 2021

Civil money penalty and order over mortgage loss mitigation failures

The OCC found unsafe or unsound practices in Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.'s home lending loss mitigation programme and a violation of its 2018 consent order, and on 9 September 2021 assessed a civil money penalty of USD 250 million (AA-ENF-2021-30) with a cease and desist order that limited purchases of mortgage servicing (AA-ENF-2021-29).

shall make payment of a civil money penalty in the total amount of two hundred fifty million dollars

The OCC terminated the cease and desist order on 17 March 2025 (AA-ENF-2025-19); the penalty remains part of the record.

Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencySettlement without admissionPenalty USD 250 millionOCC cease and desist order terminated 17 March 2025Primary source
202021 February 2020

Resolution of criminal and civil probes into millions of accounts opened without customer consent

The US Department of Justice and the SEC resolved their sales-practices investigations of Wells Fargo & Company and its subsidiary Wells Fargo Bank, National Association on 21 February 2020 for USD 3 billion, through a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, a FIRREA civil settlement and an SEC cease and desist order that included a USD 500 million penalty for investors. The company admitted that from 2002 to 2016 thousands of employees under sales pressure opened millions of accounts without consent, forged signatures, created unauthorised PINs and collected fees and interest it was not entitled to, and that senior Community Bank managers knew of the conduct as early as 2002.

US Department of Justice (with the SEC)Resolution with admissionTotal payment USD 3.00 billionAdmission of the factsPrimary source
20181 August 2018

Civil penalty for misrepresenting the quality of mortgages sold into securities

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and several affiliates agreed on 1 August 2018 to pay a civil penalty of USD 2.09 billion under FIRREA to resolve claims that they misrepresented the quality of residential mortgage loans sold for inclusion in residential mortgage-backed securities.

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and several of its affiliates (Wells Fargo) will pay a civil penalty of $2.09 billion
US Department of Justice (US Attorney for the Northern District of California)Settlement without admissionPenalty USD 2.09 billionPrimary source
201820 April 2018

Orders over forced auto insurance and mortgage rate-lock fees, and weak compliance risk management

The CFPB and the OCC found that Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. charged auto borrowers for collateral protection insurance they did not need and charged mortgage borrowers improper fees to extend interest rate locks, against a background of reckless compliance risk management. On 20 April 2018 the CFPB imposed a penalty of USD 1 billion, crediting the USD 500 million civil money penalty collected by the OCC, and the OCC issued a cease and desist order requiring remediation.

The order also imposes a $1 billion penalty against the bank,

The OCC terminated its cease and desist order on 13 February 2025 (AA-ENF-2025-13); the penalties remain part of the record.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencySettlement without admissionPenalty USD 1.00 billionOCC cease and desist order terminated 13 February 2025Primary source
20168 September 2016

Consent order: secretly opening unauthorised deposit and credit card accounts

The CFPB fined Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. USD 100 million because employees secretly opened unauthorised deposit and credit card accounts to meet sales targets; the release also cites a USD 35 million OCC penalty and USD 50 million to the City and County of Los Angeles, and full restitution to victims. These are separate payments by authority, listed individually.

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. $100 million for the widespread illegal
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (with OCC and City and County of Los Angeles)Settlement without admissionPenalty cfpb USD 100 million; Penalty occ USD 35 million; Payment los angeles USD 50 millionPrimary source
Matters concerning other entities in the group (1)
20182 February 2018

Consent cease and desist order with asset growth restriction

Consent cease and desist order against Wells Fargo & Company with a restriction on asset growth. The Federal Reserve lifted the asset cap on 3 June 2025 and terminated the order on 5 March 2026.

The order is addressed to Wells Fargo & Company, the holding company that controls the bank.

Responding to recent and widespread consumer abuses and other compliance breakdowns by Wells Fargo
Federal Reserve BoardSettlement without admissionTerminated 5 March 2026Primary source
Clients and standing

Client experience and financial standing

What clients meet at Wells Fargo Private Bank, read from complaint registers, ombudsman decisions and court records, independent reporting and what clients and their advisers tell PPLI.com in confidence. Announcements by the bank, awards and marketing material are left out.

UHNW client ratings

1.9 out of 5, based on 42 client ratings for this booking centre.

What clients report

The CFPB consumer complaint database held 177,851 complaints against Wells Fargo & Company as of 6 November 2026, counted since the database began. The count covers all customers of the national bank, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, mostly retail, and does not separate out private-banking clients. The 2016 CFPB consent order and the 2020 admissions concern accounts opened for retail customers without their authorisation. The bank has no Trustpilot profile of its own.

Worth raising with the bank

  • Ask whether the OCC formal agreement of September 2024 on anti-money laundering and sanctions controls is still in force, and whether it affects account opening or new products for private clients.

Financial standing

Credit ratings published by the agencies, dated by the latest agency or bank document that confirms them
AgencyRatingOutlookAs ofRated company
Moody'sAa2StableNovember 2026Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
S&PA+StableNovember 2026Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
FitchAA-StableNovember 2026Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Moody'sA1StableNovember 2026Wells Fargo & Company (parent)

In the press

  • HousingWire

    Wells Fargo to pay $250 million for reckless practices

    The OCC fined Wells Fargo USD 250 million over deficiencies in mortgage loss mitigation and failure to meet a 2018 order, and issued a cease and desist order limiting some mortgage servicing acquisitions.

  • InvestmentNews

    Wells Fargo pays $3 billion to settle federal probes

    InvestmentNews reported that Wells Fargo would pay USD 3 billion to settle the Department of Justice and SEC investigations into its sales practices, with a deferred prosecution agreement.

What it costs

What Wells Fargo Private Bank charges, compared

Wells Fargo Private Bank publishes its fees. The figures below are its list prices, read on 6 November 2026 from the document linked at the foot of this section. To compare banks fairly we put every published fee in US dollars at the same indicative rates and apply it to the same reference amounts, then rate each fee against the average of the other banks that publish it. Five stars is the lowest fee, one star the highest. Terms a family actually negotiates are often different, and the bank can change its schedule at any time.

FeeWells Fargo Private BankOther banksAgainst the others
Equity tradecommission on a USD 250,000 trade, major exchange1.20%stated as a maximum Source0.79%average of 47 other banksamong the most expensive
Bond tradecommission on a USD 500,000 trade3.00%stated as a maximum Source0.90%average of 42 other banksamong the most expensive
Third party fund subscriptionfee on a USD 250,000 subscription5.75%stated as a maximum Source1.28%average of 42 other banksamong the most expensive
Minimum annual feeper year, or fee below the asset thresholdUSD 175 a yearstated as a maximum SourceUSD 4,447 a yearaverage of 38 other banksamong the lowest
Outgoing international transferper transfer, standardUSD 40 SourceUSD 57average of 61 other banksamong the lowest
Transfer of securities to another bankper positionUSD 125 SourceUSD 126average of 38 other banksaround the average

Not in the published schedule: custody and safekeeping, discretionary mandate, advisory mandate, currency conversion, account maintenance, closing the account, lombard loan margin.

Third party payments. The schedule states: “Mutual fund complexes pay revenue sharing ranging from one to 20 basis points on aggregate client assets. Revenue sharing payments are not passed on to financial advisors.”

Sources.

  1. Wells Fargo Advisors Regulation Best Interest Disclosure, August 2026 (Rev 18 - 08/26), read on 6 November 2026
  2. Schedule of Miscellaneous Account and Service Fees, Effective January 1, 2026, read on 6 November 2026. Firm-wide Wells Fargo Advisors fee schedule; annual account fee waived for Wells Fargo Private Bank clients.

How the comparison works: USD 25 million booked with the bank: half under a discretionary balanced mandate, half in custody with advice; 24 equity trades of USD 250,000 and 8 bond trades of USD 500,000 a year; 6 currency conversions of USD 1 million; 24 outgoing international transfers. Tiered fees are applied to those amounts tranche by tranche, stated minimums are applied, and amounts are converted at indicative rates of 2026-11-06. Read how we compare fees.

The bank at a glance

Identity, protection and services

Legal identity

Legal nameWells Fargo Bank, National Association
LEIKB1H1DSPRFMYMCUFXT09
LicenceNational bank (OCC), FDIC cert 3511  Source
RegulatorOCC
Legal formLocally incorporated subsidiary
OwnerWells Fargo & Company

Ownership

Group parentWells Fargo & Company (listed, NYSE (WFC))  Source
ControlWidely held; no shareholder with 10% or more  Source (31 March 2026)
Disclosed holdings of 3% or moreVanguard Capital Management, LLC 7.5%  Source (31 March 2026); BlackRock, Inc. 7.3%  Source (31 December 2023)

Ownership is shown as published, with its date. It describes who owns the bank; it does not, by itself, suggest any wrongdoing by the bank or its owners.

Financial strength, as reported

Credit ratingsMoody's Aa2; S&P A+; Fitch AA-
Tier 1 ratio12.8% (31 Dec 2025)
Total assetsUSD 1,907,928 m (30 Jun 2026)  Source

Rows without a source link are taken from the published reports of Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. Sources: Selected Wells Fargo Bank Ratios, Q4 2025 (Regulation F disclosure); Wells Fargo investor relations credit ratings page; Wells Fargo History - 'Serving customers worldwide since 1852'.

Services published for this booking unit

Private clients
Discretionary management
Advisory mandates
Custody only (execution and safekeeping)
Lombard lending
Mortgage lending
Multi currency accounts
Trust and fiduciary services
Family office services
Wealth planning
Consolidated reporting
External asset manager desk

Offered at this booking centreOffered by the group, not confirmed hereNot located, which does not mean unavailable
Checked on the bank's own pages, 2 November 2026.

Access and costs

Minimum relationshipNot published
US personsNot published
Fee schedulePublished, August 2026 (Rev 18 - 08/26)  Source  Compared below
Third party paymentsPublished  Source
Transfer out termsNot published

Protection of client assets

Deposit protectionNational banks are FDIC insured: USD 250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each ownership category. Securities are not deposits.
Custody law12 CFR 9.13(b) requires a national bank to keep fiduciary account assets separate from the bank's own assets; securities at a broker-dealer are customer property under SIPA with SIPC protection. Re-use and lending are governed by account agreements and regulator rules rather than a single statute.
Custody termsNot published

Before opening an account

  • Custody agreement. The applicable legal framework is set out above. Ask for the agreement that would govern your account and check how securities are titled, whether any sub-custodian is used, and when the bank may take a lien.
  • Account eligibility. Ask for the opening and ongoing minimum for the service you need, and confirm whether the bank measures it per account, per legal entity or across the family relationship.
  • Exit costs. The fee comparison shows USD 125 per position for a securities transfer. Ask what rate would apply to your mandate and whether the receiving bank or a sub-custodian would charge separately. See published fees.
Your experience

Rate Wells Fargo Private Bank

If you bank with Wells Fargo Private Bank or advise clients who do, your experience forms part of its PPLI.com rating. Every response is read by the editor and treated in strict confidence.

Select a rating

Our commitment to confidentiality

Your name, email and telephone number are seen only by the PPLI.com editor. They are never published, never passed to Wells Fargo Private Bank or any other bank, and never used for marketing. We may contact you once to clarify your assessment. Once verified by our editors, your assessment can lead to a disclosed adjustment of this bank's PPLI.com rating. It is never published with your name.

Sources

All 26 documents cited on this page, by subject.

Regulatory and legal record

  1. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Formal agreement on deficiencies in financial crimes risk management and anti-money laundering controls, 12 September 2024occ.gov
  2. Office of Foreign Assets Control (US Treasury): Settlement of apparent violations of Iran, Sudan and Syria sanctions, 30 March 2023ofac.treasury.gov
  3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consent order: mismanagement of auto loans, mortgages and deposit accounts, 20 December 2022consumerfinance.gov
  4. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Civil money penalty and order over mortgage loss mitigation failures, 9 September 2021occ.gov
  5. US Department of Justice (with the SEC): Resolution of criminal and civil probes into millions of accounts opened without customer consent, 21 February 2020justice.gov
  6. US Department of Justice (US Attorney for the Northern District of California): Civil penalty for misrepresenting the quality of mortgages sold into securities, 1 August 2018justice.gov
  7. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Orders over forced auto insurance and mortgage rate-lock fees, and weak compliance risk management, 20 April 2018files.consumerfinance.gov
  8. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (with OCC and City and County of Los Angeles): Consent order: secretly opening unauthorised deposit and credit card accounts, 8 September 2016consumerfinance.gov
  9. Federal Reserve Board: Consent cease and desist order with asset growth restriction, 2 February 2018federalreserve.gov

Client experience and press

  1. HousingWire: Wells Fargo to pay $250 million for reckless practices, 10 September 2021housingwire.com
  2. InvestmentNews: Wells Fargo pays $3 billion to settle federal probes, 21 February 2020investmentnews.com

Fees

  1. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Forms (PDF)wellsfargoadvisors.com · Fees
  2. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Forms (PDF)wellsfargoadvisors.com · Fees

Identity, ownership, finances and services

  1. api.fdic.gov: Institutionsapi.fdic.gov · Licence
  2. GLEIF: Direct parentapi.gleif.org · Group parent
  3. US Securities and Exchange Commission: Primary doc.xmlsec.gov · Control
  4. US Securities and Exchange Commission: Datasec.gov · Disclosed holdings of 3% or more
  5. Wells Fargo Private Bank: Selected Wells Fargo Bank Ratios, Q4 2025 (Regulation F disclosure)wellsfargo.com · Financial strength
  6. Wells Fargo investor relations credit ratings pagewellsfargo.com · Financial strength
  7. history.wf.com: Wells Fargo History - 'Serving customers worldwide since 1852'history.wf.com · Financial strength
  8. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Private wealthwellsfargoadvisors.com · Services
  9. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Portfolio managementwellsfargoadvisors.com · Services
  10. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Lendingwellsfargoadvisors.com · Services
  11. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Trust and estate serviceswellsfargoadvisors.com · Services
  12. wellsfargoadvisors.com: Family office serviceswellsfargoadvisors.com · Services

The bank

  1. Wells Fargo Private Bank, websitewellsfargo.com

For Wells Fargo Private Bank

Before we publish a significant negative finding that is not already public, we give the bank the facts and time to comment, on the same timetable for every bank. Decisions of regulators and courts are shown as they were published. Corrections we verify are published with the date of the change. Write to [email protected] quoting reference BK-US-WELLS-FARGO-BA0102.

Reviewing this file with us

Families and their advisers read this file before they open an account. It can only be as complete as the documents we can find, and much of what sets a private bank apart, from its custody terms to the way a client team works, is rarely published.

If you represent Wells Fargo Private Bank, one of our Bank Intelligence analysts can go through the file with you: correct anything that is out of date, add terms and documents that are not yet public, and set out what has improved since our last edition. The review is a paid engagement for the analyst's time and research.

The rating itself stays with our editor and follows what the documents show, so we cannot promise a particular result. When a review changes the file, this page notes that the bank took part, with the date and what was added.

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About this file

Researched by the PPLI.com research desk from the public sources listed. The rating is our editorial opinion; read how we rate.

Important information. Editorial opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown, based on public information, client experience and editorial judgment. Not a statement of fact, a credit rating or investment, legal, tax or financial advice; verify with the bank and your own advisers before acting. No liability is accepted for reliance on this content. Bank names and logos are used for identification only. Ratings are updated every quarter. This is the Q4 2026 edition, and a rating can change between editions if something material happens. Full disclaimer
Rating signed by Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026Methodology 2.4Reference BK-US-WELLS-FARGO-BA0102
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