Wells Fargo: A Criminal Enterprise?

      So, Wells Fargo paid a fine this year in excess of a billion dollars for opening accounts of customers who didn't want those accounts and didn't open them to begin with.  Wells personnel thought nobody would notice.  Well, some did, and the Comptroller of the Currency did to.  Since the bank paid the fine,  various overseers have kept up scrutiny of the bank's operations.  Sadly, it was reported that changes in bank policies were not forthcoming as required/promised.
     Two senior bank executives were shelved when they both received personal(as in addressed directly to them) letters advising them their efforts were substandard and the problems had not been corrected.  Hope Hardison, chief admin officer, and David Julian, chief auditor, were placed on leave by the bank board.  The OCC letters sent to both of them expressed concerns about their ability to resolve long term, identified problems related to marketing retail products.  Kim Bordner will become chief auditor.  David Galloreese, human resources, will report to Mr. Sloan and will join the operating committee.  Jim Rowe head of stakeholder relations, will also report to Mr. Sloan.
     So, the "too big to fail institution" is stumbling along, trying to right itself from continued inherent problems brought on by its size.  This institution operates as a bank, but its actual business model is a confusion  of roles, goals, and business methods.  The Federal regulators are likewise confused as to what exactly they are regulating.  Is it a customer oriented retail bank?  Is it an investment bank?  Is it a corporation that is inept in all these roles?  Is it time to rethink Federal oversight in its present form, that is, an institution that must follow rules established by the US Treasury, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, by the Federal Reserve, by the Congress, by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and by individual states where they conduct branch business.  While many banks do flourish under these regulators, Wells Fargo cannot seem to get it right.
      Perhaps they should relocate from the city of San Francisco.  Perhaps the location alone is a cause of the problems, as executives survey the local landscape and see company after company achieve startling valuations based on emotions and whimsy.   The future of Wells Fargo rides on a stagecoach driven by a group of teamsters who have lost the road, and cannot divine the way back to that road that leads to prosperity and success.