Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Wells Fargo & Company (Wells Fargo or the Company) (NYSE: WFC) and certain of its officers  The class action filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California and indexed under 20-cv-03697 is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Wells Fargo securities between April 5 2020 and May 5 2020 both dates inclusive (the Class Period) seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder against the Company and certain of its top officials

If you are a shareholder who purchased Wells Fargo securities during the class period you have until August 3 2020 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at wwwpomerantzlawcom   To discuss this action contact Robert S Willoughby at [email protected] or 8884766529 (or 8884-POMLAW) toll-free Ext 7980 Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address telephone number and the number of shares purchased 

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Wells Fargo is a diversified financial services company that provides banking investment mortgage and consumer and commercial finance products and services to individuals businesses and institutions in the US and internationally

On April 5 2020 Wells Fargo announced that it had received strong interest in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) a program under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) and was targeting to distribute a total of $10 billion to small business customers under the requirements of the PPP

On April 8 2020 the Federal Reserve announced that it would allow Wells Fargo to exceed the asset cap that it had imposed on Wells Fargo in 2018 after revelations that the Company had opened millions of accounts in customers' names without their permission a change which would allow Wells Fargo to make additional small business loans as part of the PPP

That same day Wells Fargo issued a press release stating in relevant part that beginning immediately in response to the actions by the Federal Reserve [Wells Fargo] will expand its participation in the [PPP] and offer loans to a broader set of its small business and nonprofit customers subject to the terms of the program

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about Wells Fargo's business operations and prospects  Specifically Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (i) Wells Fargo planned to and did improperly allocate government-backed loans under the PPP and/or had inadequate controls in place to prevent such misallocation; (ii) the foregoing foreseeably increased the Company's litigation risk with respect to PPP allocation as well as increased regulatory scrutiny and/or potential enforcement actions; and (iii) as a result the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times

On April 19 2020 after at least one lawsuit was filed against the Company reports emerged that Wells Fargo may have unfairly allocated government-backed loans under the PPP  For example USA Today reported that [t]he lawsuit filed on behalf of small business owners on Sunday alleges that Wells Fargo unfairly prioritized businesses seeking large loan amounts while the government's small business agency has said that PPP loan applications would be processed on a first-come first-served basis  According to the lawsuit [t]he move by Wells Fargo meant that the bank would receive millions more dollars in processing fees and [m]aking matters worse Wells Fargo concealed from the public that it was reshuffling the PPP applications it received and prioritizing the applications that would make the bank the most money

Following this news Wells Fargo's stock price fell more than 5% over two trading days to close at $2684 per share on April 21 2020

Finally on May 5 2020 Wells Fargo filed a quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing in addition to multiple PPP-related lawsuits initiated against the Company that Wells Fargo had received formal and informal inquiries from federal and state governmental agencies regarding its offering of PPP loans

Following this news Wells Fargo's stock price fell by more than 6% over two trading days from its closing price on May 4 2020 closing at $2561 per share on May 6 2020

The Pomerantz Firm with offices in New York Chicago Los Angeles and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate securities and antitrust class litigation Founded by the late Abraham L Pomerantz known as the dean of the class action bar the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions Today more than 80 years later the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud breaches of fiduciary duty and corporate misconduct The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members See wwwpomerantzlawcom