Wachovia tools

The purpose of my testimony is to summarize the events, with a focus on the Federal Reserve's involvement. I will also address the lending and supervisory questions raised in the Commission's invitation letter. Wachovia Wachovia was a financial holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, that provided commercial and retail banking services and other financial services in the United States and internationally. Thus, the assets of the lead national bank and two insured thrift subsidiaries comprised about 95 percent of the assets of the holding company.

Wachovia also operated a large retail-oriented securities broker-dealer network through its subsidiaries, Wachovia Securities and AG Edwards, Inc. The Federal Reserve supervised Wachovia in a manner similar to other very large bank holding companies. These statutory provisions require that we rely to the fullest extent possible on the examinations of the bank, thrift, and other functionally regulated subsidiaries, such as the securities broker-dealer, conducted by the primary regulator of the entity.

The examinations conducted by the Federal Reserve are designed to review the organization's systems for managing risk across the organization and to evaluate the organization's overall financial strength. The Federal Reserve also establishes consolidated capital, liquidity, risk management, and other prudential requirements for bank holding companies. In addition, federal law gives the Federal Reserve authority to review merger and expansion proposals by bank holding companies and enforcement authority over bank holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries, including the ability to stop or prevent a bank holding company or nonbank subsidiary from engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice.

Wachovia had been profitable continuously for more than a decade through year-end The losses also reflected, to a lesser extent, declines in the value of commercial real estate mortgages originated and held by Wachovia.

This MOU was the culmination of efforts by the Federal Reserve that had been initiated earlier through our inspection process to ensure that Wachovia completed a number of steps to improve corporate governance, risk management, liquidity, capital management, and strategic planning. The troubles at Wachovia occurred during a period of extreme financial turbulence and distress. The nation's economy was in recession, with declining housing prices and stalled economic growth.

The financial system was also deteriorating quickly. On September 7, , the Federal Housing Finance Agency had placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and the Treasury had used its authority, granted by Congress in July , to make financial support available to these two government-sponsored entities. On September 15, Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy after efforts had failed to organize private-sector assistance or arrange an acquisition by another company. The failure of Lehman Brothers ended efforts by private investors to provide liquidity to American International Group, Inc.

AIG , which faced its own mounting financial difficulties. On September 16, the Board acted to provide temporary liquidity to AIG under the emergency lending authority of section 13 3 of the Federal Reserve Act.

Losses at a prominent money market mutual fund caused by the failure of Lehman Brothers sparked extensive withdrawals from a number of similar funds. These events caused extraordinary turbulence in financial markets: equity prices dropped sharply, the costs of short-term credit spiked upward, and liquidity dried up in many markets. WaMu was the second largest holder of option ARMs at the time, and Wachovia was the largest holder of these assets.

The failure of WaMu thus raised creditor concern about the health of Wachovia. Wachovia's stock price declined sharply and credit default swap spreads on its debt surged. We offer a variety of career paths that encourage you to thrive and flourish in an inclusive environment. Explore our resources. Our diverse culture. Grow with us. Find an event near you. Watch our video on YouTube. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Skip to content We're sorry, but some features of our site require JavaScript. Keeping you informed Learn More. Banking Accounts and Services.

Loans and Credit Accounts and Services. Investing and Retirement Our Investing Services. Wealth Management Wealth Services. Rewards and Benefits Explore Rewards. Borrowing and Credit. See how we can help you achieve your goals Explore your credit options.

Not all smartphones are enabled with a digital wallet. Some ATMs within secure locations may require a physical card for entry.

Turning off your card is not a replacement for reporting your card lost or stolen. Contact us immediately if you believe that unauthorized transactions have been made. Turning your card off will not stop card transactions presented as recurring transactions or the posting of refunds, reversals, or credit adjustments to your account. Any digital card numbers linked to the card will also be turned off.

For debit cards, turning off your card will not stop transactions using other cards linked to your deposit account. For credit cards, turning off your card will turn off all cards associated with your credit card account. Certain devices are eligible to enable fingerprint sign-on. If you store multiple fingerprints on your device, including those of additional persons, we recommend using your username and password instead, as those persons will also be able to access your Wells Fargo Mobile app via fingerprint when fingerprint is enabled.

Only select devices are eligible to enable sign-on with facial recognition. If you have family members who look like you, we recommend using your username and password instead of facial recognition to sign on.

Banking Accounts and Services.