The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of Wells Fargo & Company Investors and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm

BENSALEM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased Wells Fargo & Company ("Wells Fargo") or the "Company") WFC securities between February 26, 2014 and September 15, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Wells Fargo investors have until November 25, 2016 to file a lead plaintiff motion.

Investors suffering losses on their Wells Fargo investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com.

The Complaint filed in this lawsuit alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) The Company illegally, through forgery and other electronic means, applied for and opened credit card accounts on behalf of customers without their knowledge or consent; (b) The Company illegally, through forgery and other electronic means, opened bank deposit accounts on behalf of customers without their knowledge or consent; (c) The Company used fake e-mail addresses to enroll customers in online banking services and request debit cards, including the creation of PINs, without customers' knowledge or consent; (d) The Defendants engineered a sales culture that was designed to incentivize and reward employees for pushing products on customers they did not want or need and rewarded employees for bank and credit card accounts that were opened without the customers' knowledge through forgery or other means; (e) An ongoing internal investigation had in fact found that in excess of 5% of the employees in the Community Banking segment had engaged in a wide ranging scheme to inflate the Company's financial performance figures by, among other things, opening millions of unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts, resulting in mass terminations of employees, ultimately reaching more than 5,000 firings; (f) That, in an effort to conceal the breadth of Defendants' fraudulent cross-selling scheme, Defendants Wells Fargo and Stumpf agreed that they would not terminate Defendant Tolstedt for overseeing the fraudulent activities in the Community Banking segment, but rather would allow her to retire, notwithstanding her leadership over and oversight of the misconduct in the Community Banking segment, and thereby permit her to pocket more than $90 million; (g) The Company's reported cross-selling metrics and the financial results derived from them were the product of Defendants' misconduct; and (h) as a result of the foregoing, Wells Fargo's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

If you purchased shares of Wells Fargo during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than November 25, 2016 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the Class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the Class. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.howardsmithlaw.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

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