Elizabeth Warren Escalates Her Campaign Against Wells Fargo's CEO

(Bloomberg) -- Senator Elizabeth Warren is opening a new front in a campaign against a familiar foe -- demanding that the Federal Reserve keep its restrictions on Wells Fargo & Co. until Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan is removed.

The Massachusetts Democrat escalated her criticism of the San Francisco-based bank in a letter Thursday to Fed Chairman Jay Powell, requesting that he maintain growth limits imposed earlier this year to ensure that real changes are made to fix oversight gaps that allowed consumer abuses including opening millions of accounts without customers’ knowledge.

“The Federal Reserve should not remove the growth cap on WFC until the Board replaces Mr. Sloan with a new CEO who has not contributed to the very problems the Federal Reserve is seeking to fix,” Warren wrote.

The Fed received Warren’s letter and plans to respond to it, spokesman Eric Kollig said.

“Wells Fargo continues to have constructive dialogue with the Federal Reserve to ensure” that it’s meeting the regulator’s demands, spokeswoman Erika Reynoso said in an emailed statement. “We are also confident that the transformation of the company over the last two years, including our efforts to make things right with our customers, will contribute to resolution” of the issues cited by the Fed, she added.

Wells Fargo remains a favorite target of Warren amid speculation that she will seek her party’s nomination to run for president in 2020. In the latest sign that she may be running, Warren released a video this week meant to counter President Donald Trump’s contention that she falsely claims Native American heritage. That move by Warren backfired when groups including the Cherokee Nation accused her of making a “mockery” out of DNA tests and for dishonoring tribal citizens.

--With assistance from Jesse Hamilton and Hannah Levitt.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Dexheimer in Washington at edexheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Gregory Mott

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