Wells Fargo Settles with SEC for Charging Excessive Advisory Fees

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network LLC (collectively, Wells Fargo) for overcharging more than 10,900 investment advisory accounts more than $26.8 million in advisory fees. Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $35 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s charges. According to the SEC’s order, certain financial advisers from Wells Fargo and its predecessor firms agreed to reduce the firms’ standard, pre-set advisory fees for certain clients and made handwritten or typed changes on the clients’ investment advisory agreements that reflected the reduced fees at the time their accounts were opened.