Well Fargo was an iconic and respected American Brand. But then, in September 2016, in a settlement with the City of Los Angeles, the OCC, and CFPB, it was revealed that approximately 5,300 Wells Fargo employees had been terminated between 2011 and 2016, for sales practice violations that included opening over two million unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts. Earlier this year, Kevin Wack published a 5-part series in the American Banker that shed new details on the scandal. Kevin came on the show to talk about how the series came together and what his reporting uncovered. He also provides an update on what has happened to some of the senior executives involved in the scandal and shares his thoughts on the enduring lessons the Wells Fargo scandal provides.

Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links

*Alarm bells, arrogance and the crisis at Wells Fargo: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/alarm-bells-arrogance-and-the-crisis-at-wells-fargo

*How Wells Fargo's Aggressive Sales Culture Took Root: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargos-aggressive-sales-culture-took-root

*Wells Execs Stuck to the Script as Evidence of Sales Abuses Mounted: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-execs-stuck-to-the-script-as-evidence-of-sales-abuses-mounted

*Deal to put ex-Wells Fargo executive behind bars sends tough message: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/deal-to-put-ex-wells-fargo-executive-behind-bars-sends-tough-message

*The Rise and Fall of Wells Fargo with Dick Kovacevich: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7f2D7PL9ZM1zLlnNCneK0L

*Wells Fargo Unauthorized Account Openings: A Case Study for Bank Board Directors: https://sites.duke.edu/thefinregblog/2017/04/26/phony-accounts-scandal-a-case-study-for-bank-board-directors/

James Wigginton has thought deeply about economic power and the role cooperatives can play in ensuring Web3 lives up to its stated potential of sharing ownership with users in digital networks. James joins Lee to discuss how cooperatives can be used by Web3 firms to engage with their users, strengthen digital networks, and remain compliant with securities laws. James also talks about the potential for sports fans to own a part of their favorite teams by allowing cooperatives to take minority stakes in teams.

Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links

*Cooperatives: An Ownership Model for Digital Networks: https://media.orrick.com/Media%20Library/public/files/insights/2023/cooperatives-path-to-compliance-for-web3.pdf

*Can fan-owned cooperatives change the relationship between fans and owners for the better? https://theathletic.com/4783026/2023/08/17/fan-cooperatives-sports-ownership/?access_token=13946098

Alicia Seiger is a lecturer at Stanford Law and the managing director of Stanford’s Sustainable Finance Initiative. And Marc Roston is the founder of investment advisory firm MNR Capital and a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. In this episode, Alicia and Marc offer their perspective on the problems with the current method of corporate carbon counting, known as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. They also break down a new carbon accounting methodology they’ve developed called Emissions Liability Management, or ELM.

Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links

*Carbon Accounting and Emissions Liability Management:

https://sfi.stanford.edu/carbon-accounting-and-emissions-liability-management

*Settling Climate Accounts: Navigating the Road to Net Zero:

 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-83650-4

*Accounting for Climate Change:                                                                https://hbr.org/2021/11/accounting-for-climate-change

Tony McLaughlin is Managing Director for Emerging Payments & Business Development at Citi Treasury & Trade Solutions. In this episode, Tony offers his thoughts on the latest developments in payments, including stablecoins, central bank digital currency, and FedNow. He also breaks down an exciting new project he’s been working on, called the Regulated Liability Network (RLN). RLN envisions a regulated Financial Market Infrastructure that could deliver an interoperable network of all facets of the sovereign currency system: central bank money, commercial bank money, and e-money (and in the future, regulated stablecoins).

Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links

*The Regulated Liability Network Whitepaper                  https://regulatedliabilitynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Regulated-Liability-Network-Whitepaper.pdf

*Regulated Liability Network U.S. Proof of Concept Findings https://www.rlnuspoc.org/home#subpage/introduction/section/w3rk7

Joe Davis is chief economist at Vanguard as well as the global head of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. In this episode, Joe offers his thoughts on what’s driving inflation, how the Federal Reserve is likely to respond at their upcoming policy meeting and beyond, and how investors can insulate their portfolio from inflations pernicious effects. Joe and Lee also reflect on key lessons learned from the last 15 years of economic policymaking.

 

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

 

Related Links

 

*Ukraine and the Changing Market Environment* Vanguard https://advisors.vanguard.com/insights/article/ukraineandthechangingmarketenvironment

 

*Why Do We Think That Inflation Expectations Matter for Inflation? (And Should We?)* Jeremy B. Rudd

https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2021.062

 

*Will Inflation Stay High for Decades? One Influential Economist Says Yes* Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/inflation-high-forecast-economist-goodhart-cpi-11646837755

Ari Redbord is the head of legal and government affairs for the blockchain intelligence firm, TRM Labs. Prior to joining TRM Labs, Ari held public sector roles involving cryptocurrency and national security at the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this episode, Ari and Lee break down President Biden’s executive order on cryptocurrency.

Ari Redbord’s Twitter: @ARedbord

TRM Labs Twitter: @TRMLabs

 Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Related Links

*Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/09/executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/

*Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the President’s New Digital Assets Executive Order* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/03/09/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-presidents-new-digital-assets-executive-order/

Barbara Haya directs the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project. Barbara joins Lee to explain what carbon offsets are and the considerations that must be addressed to ensure that offset credits entering into commerce reflect real, verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, Barbara details why most offset programs issue more credits than they should, and recent policy efforts to bring greater integrity to the voluntary offset market.

Barbara’s Twitter: @Barbara_Haya

GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links:

*POLICY BRIEF: The California Air Resources Board’s U.S. Forest offset protocol underestimates leakage* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/policy-brief-arbas-us-forest-projects-offset-protocol-underestimates-leaka

* Measuring Emissions Against an Alternative Future: Fundamental Flaws in the Structure of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/measuring-emissions-against-an-alternative-future-fundamental-flaws-in-the-

Barbara Haya directs the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project. Barbara joins Lee to explain what carbon offsets are and the considerations that must be addressed to ensure that offset credits entering into commerce reflect real, verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, Barbara details why most offset programs issue more credits than they should, and recent policy efforts to bring greater integrity to the voluntary offset market.

Barbara’s Twitter: @Barbara_Haya

GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links:

*POLICY BRIEF: The California Air Resources Board’s U.S. Forest offset protocol underestimates leakage* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/policy-brief-arbas-us-forest-projects-offset-protocol-underestimates-leaka

* Measuring Emissions Against an Alternative Future: Fundamental Flaws in the Structure of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/measuring-emissions-against-an-alternative-future-fundamental-flaws-in-the-

Jeremy Kress is Assistant Professor of Business Law at Michigan Ross and Co-Faculty Director of the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law & Policy. Jeremy joins Lee to discuss how policymakers’ long-standing approach to bank antitrust—premised on consumer welfare—has reduced the cost and availability of basic financial services and ignores numerous non-price harms stemming from bank consolidation. Jeremy details how the Chicago school of antitrust and its focus on consumer welfare came to dominate bank merger review, the impact of fintech on bank competition, and recent policy actions that foreshadow a more stringent review of bank mergers going forward.

Jeremy’s Twitter: @Jeremy_Kress

GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links:

* Modernizing Bank Merger Review* by Jeremy Kress https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3440914

* Reviving Bank Antitrust * by Jeremy Kress https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4039197

* Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/

* Antitrust Division Seeks Additional Public Comments on Bank Merger Competitive Analysis* U.S. Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antitrust-division-seeks-additional-public-comments-bank-merger-competitive-analysis

* Request for Public Comment on the Bank Merger Act* Joint Statement of Martin J. Gruenberg and Rohit Chopra, Members, FDIC Board of Directors https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_bank-merger-act-rfi_joint-statement_2021-12.pdf

Mike Bloomberg is the Public Infrastructure Fellow at the NewCities Foundation and a Visiting Researcher with the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech. In this episode, he examines the dark side of U.S. cities embracing cryptocurrency. Mike and Lee discuss how MiamiCoin and NYC Coin actually work, the nebulous legal relationship between these coins and the cities of Miami and New York, and why anyone would bother purchasing or mining these coins. They also discuss the legal and regulatory risks mayors are taking on by embracing crypto.

Mike’s Twitter: @BloombergME

GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners

Related Links:

CityCoins Website: https://www.citycoins.co/

*Money for nothing: Cities’ crypto push draws fans, critics* Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-business-new-york-miami-coin-f076e0e8b80adf74fdeebaeae9188e70

Jay’s Profile: https://www.law.du.edu/about/people/j-robert-brown-jr

Kathleen’s Profile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Hamm

GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC

Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners