The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, -1.03% agreed to pay a $35 million civil penalty to settle claims that its Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network LLC units overcharged thousands of its investment advisory accounts. The SEC said the bank levied excessive fees of a combined $26.8 million on more than 10,900 investment advisory accounts, prior to 2014. Account processing employees failed to enter agreed-upon reduced advisory fee rates into the firms’ billing systems when setting up the clients’ accounts, after financial advisers made handwritten or typed changes on investment advisory agreements with individual clients, the SEC said. “Today’s enforcement action underscores the need for firms growing their businesses through acquisition to ensure that their growth does not come at the expense of client protection,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of enforcement. Wells Fargo also paid $40 million to the affected accountholders to reimburse them, the SEC said. Wells Fargo stock was down 1.5% on Friday, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.4%.
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