Wells Fargo Plans Major Retreat From Mortgage Business It Long Dominated
Scandals spur a debate among new leaders at bank that once set records
During the 2008 financial crisis, many large lenders faced tens of billions of dollars in liability from mortgage-related operations and retreated. Wells Fargo held itself out as the exception.
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(This story was originally published Aug. 14. On Tuesday, the bank announced a “new strategic direction” for its mortgage business, making it smaller. Among measures, the firm will stop funding home loans arranged by outsiders and shrink the portfolio of debts that it services.)
Wells Fargo & Co. plans to shrink its vast mortgage empire, which once churned out one of every three home loans in the US and for a time made the bank the most valuable in the nation.