Wells Fargo Says It's Investigating Information Sent to Attorney

(Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co., the San Francisco-based lender, said it is looking into whether any private information was accidentally provided to an attorney as part of a lawsuit.

Information about tens of thousands of the bank’s wealthiest clients was sent in error to a lawyer involved in a defamation lawsuit against a bank employee, the New York Times reported on Friday. The newspaper quoted the plaintiff’s attorney, Aaron Zeisler, as saying his client planned to keep the information “secure and confidential.”

The bank asked for the data to be returned, the Times said. The information contained details on investments as well as customer names and Social Security numbers, the newspaper reported. Zeisler, a lawyer for plaintiff Gary Sinderbrand, didn’t immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

“Wells Fargo takes the security and privacy of our customers’ information seriously,” a bank spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The information was provided in response to a subpoena issued in connection with a lawsuit and delivered to an attorney. We will determine whether any information was inadvertently provided and will take the proper steps based on the outcome of our investigation.

--With assistance from Edvard Pettersson

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Reichl in San Francisco at dreichl@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg