Rebuilding Trust
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Arizona New Mexico South Carolina Mississippi Georgia Alabama Texas Louisiana Florida Alaska Hawaii Contents 2 | Letter from Chair of the Board 6 | Letter from Chief Executive Officer and President 18 | Rebuilding Trust 18 | Finding a forever home 20 | Making your phone a ‘control tower’ 22 | School expansion is an ‘odyssey’ 24 | It starts just by listening 26 | Growth at the grocery — and beyond 28 | Investments are a mother’s gift 30 | Small business, big impact 32 | Planting seeds for the next generation 34 | Operating Committee and Other Corporate Officers 35 | Board of Directors 36 | 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Performance Highlights 37 | 2017 Financial Report - Financial review - Controls and procedures - Financial statements - Report of independent registered public accounting firm 279 | Stock Performance 1 Annual ReportAnnual Cover: In Florida, customer Alexandra Wilkinson, right, has a conversation about her finances with Personal Banker Nicole Allegretto. Learn more on 2017 page 24. Dear fellow shareholders, 2 Elizabeth A. Duke Chair, Board of Directors Wells Fargo & Company Annual Report Report Annual 2017 2017 I am honored to serve as chair of the board of directors of Wells Fargo, a company with a long history of success and a unique opportunity to learn from its challenges and become better, Many of the changes we made also reflected stronger, and more customer- the feedback we received as part of the focused than ever before. company’s long-standing investor engagement For that to happen, we must embrace change. program. Following my election as board Our CEO, Tim Sloan, has been relentless chair, I met with many of our shareholders in making the kinds of changes that are required to discuss our progress and listen to their for us to achieve our six shared goals — namely, feedback. To help provide insights from for Wells Fargo to be the financial services leader a stakeholder perspective, including insights in customer service and advice, team member on current and emerging issues relevant engagement, innovation, risk management, to the company, we formed a Stakeholder corporate citizenship, and shareholder value. Advisory Council. It includes seven members, Tim writes in his CEO letter (page 6) about all external, representing groups focused the transformation he is leading, and I would on consumer banking, fair lending, the like to highlight some of the actions the board environment, human rights, civil rights, of directors has taken to enhance our governance and governance. Tim and I began meeting and oversight of Wells Fargo. Many of these actions with this group in December 2017. The council's will help us satisfy the requirements of the consent feedback has proven valuable in informing order that the company entered into with the how we can be responsive to our stakeholders Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and assess our progress, and I look forward System on Feb. 2, 2018. to continuing our engagement in the future. The board recognizes that we must continue Board composition and capabilities to strengthen and enhance our oversight At our 2017 annual meeting, Wells Fargo and risk management practices. Our board shareholders sent the entire board a clear is committed to meeting the expectations message. The board heard that message and, of our regulators and protecting and serving as part of our response, we took a number of the interests of our shareholders, customers, actions to refresh the board, including electing team members, and communities. To support four new independent directors and announcing these efforts, in recent months we have made the retirement of three long-serving directors significant changes to board composition, who retired at the end of 2017. In total, reconstituted several board committees, we elected six new independent directors — amended committee charters, and worked with Celeste Clark, Theodore Craver, Maria Morris, Wells Fargo senior management to improve the Karen Peetz, Juan Pujadas, and Ronald Sargent reporting and analysis provided to the board. — and five retired in 2017. As we announced in These actions were informed by rigorous self- February 2018, and in furtherance of our board examination. The board’s independent directors succession planning process, three additional 3 engaged in a comprehensive, independent directors are expected to retire by the date of investigation of Wells Fargo’s retail banking our 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and sales practices and drew important conclusions. a fourth by the end of 2018. We are taking great Annual ReportAnnual In addition, the board conducted a thoughtful and care, as part of our board refreshment process, deliberate self-evaluation of its own effectiveness, to appropriately balance new perspectives 2017 facilitated by Mary Jo White, a senior partner with the experience of existing directors while at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and former chair undergoing an orderly transition of roles and of the Securities and Exchange Commission. responsibilities on the board and its committees. Our new directors bring a broad range of capabilities, including expertise in financial services, risk management, technology, human information security, and financial crimes capital management, finance and accounting, risk programs under the Risk Committee and corporate responsibility, and regulatory matters. (2) maintain oversight of financial reporting, Throughout the transition, the board has also the company’s independent auditor, and other 4 maintained its focus on diversity, and I am proud audit-related activities under the Audit and that of our six new directors elected in 2017, Examination Committee. We also expanded four are women or people of color. the Human Resources Committee’s oversight responsibilities to include human capital Annual ReportAnnual Risk oversight Understanding that effective risk management, ethics, and culture. 2017 management protects and benefits all Reporting practices and oversight stakeholders, the board has made several Applying key learnings from our investigation important changes so that risks are properly into sales practices, we have made significant identified, evaluated, and escalated. These changes to the way management escalates fall into two main categories: changes in risk issues and reports them to the board. board committee composition and oversight The company has focused on examining responsibilities, and enhancements to business practices across the company management reporting. by using third-party experts to conduct Committee composition independent reviews of business and and oversight responsibilities risk practices. In addition, where we identify We reconstituted our Risk Committee an issue, management is conducting a root to add new perspectives and expertise. cause analysis, holding individuals accountable Karen Peetz, retired president of The Bank when appropriate, changing processes (and in We have made significant changes to the way management escalates risk issues and reports them to the board. of New York Mellon, was appointed some cases, changing business models), chair of the Risk Committee; Juan Pujadas, and most important, assessing and a retired principal of PwC, joined the committee remediating customer harm. The board in 2017; and Maria Morris, a retired MetLife has set clear expectations that, as issues executive, joined early in 2018. Wells Fargo are identified, they will be reported is classified as a Systemically Important promptly to the board and our regulators. Financial Institution (SIFI), and all three join At the same time, we enhanced our oversight me in bringing experience with the regulatory of conduct risk, including sales practice risk, expectations, especially in risk management, through the company’s Conduct Management of SIFIs. Suzanne Vautrinot, a retired major Office. Created to consolidate internal general in the U.S. Air Force responsible for investigations, EthicsLine and ethics oversight, its cyber command and network operations, complaints oversight, and sales practice also joined the Risk Committee, providing oversight, the Conduct Management Office it with additional cyber expertise. reports regularly to the Risk Committee The charters of the Risk Committee and the on its activities and to the Human Resources Audit and Examination Committee were Committee on matters related to team members. amended to (1) consolidate oversight of the In addition, the full board receives updates company’s compliance, operational, technology, at least twice a year from this office. To fulfill its broader charter responsibilities, the Human Resources Committee receives reports on matters involving team members, In appreciation including reports related to leadership planning, At the end of 2017, three long-serving training and development, compensation and directors — Stephen Sanger, Cynthia Milligan, benefits, culture, ethics, and the company’s code and Susan Swenson — retired from the board. of ethics and business conduct. The committee On behalf of the entire board of directors, continues to