Wells Fargo's Stumpf quits Fed council amid lawmaker pressure

[WASHINGTON] Wells Fargo & Co chief executive officer John Stumpf resigned from the Federal Reserve's Federal Advisory Council as US lawmakers stepped up pressure after revelations that the bank's employees had opened two million allegedly bogus client accounts.

Mr Stumpf had served as the San Francisco Fed's appointee to the panel, which is made up of 12 bank representatives and consults with and advises Fed Board of Governors. Its members customarily serve three one-year terms.

"John made a personal decision to resign as the Twelfth District's representative to the Federal Advisory Council," Mark Folk, a Wells Fargo spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. "His top priority is leading Wells Fargo."

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay US$185 million in fines to the US regulators and the Los Angeles city attorney's office to resolve claims stemming from the unauthorised accounts.

Mr Stumpf took a beating at a Tuesday Senate hearing on the scandal. On Thursday, Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, sent the San Francisco Fed a letter urging it not to reappoint Mr Stumpf to the FAC panel.

The letter was signed by Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon and Maria Cantwell of Washington. Ms Warren has separately called for Mr Stumpf to resign and said he should face criminal investigation.

BLOOMBERG