BUSINESS
East Oregonian
Page 8A
Saturday, March 18, 2017
U.S., global partners Wells Fargo CEO: Fixing fake
wrestle over trade
accounts will take more time
By DAVID MCHUGH
AP Business Writer
BADEN-BADEN, Germany — Top finance
officials including new U.S. Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin are debating what stance to take
on free trade at a meeting that will help set the tone
for the global economy.
The gathering of finance ministers and central
bank heads from the Group of 20 countries
has focused on shifting attitudes toward trade,
particularly after U.S. Pres-
ident Donald Trump vowed
to impose border taxes and
rewrite free trade deals he says
have shortchanged the U.S.
Mnuchin has said trade
needs to be “fair,” which
would be a step back from
the group’s previous blanket
condemnation
of
trade
barriers.
Mnuchin
Attention at the two-day
meeting in the German spa town of Baden-Baden
has centered on a joint statement that is being
prepared for Saturday.
Early drafts have dropped an earlier ban on
protectionism, but there was no agreement on what
would replace it, said officials who briefed reporters
Friday on condition of anonymity because the talks
were ongoing.
The meeting’s host, German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schaeuble, told reporters that the discus-
sion was about “the right formulation regarding the
openness of the world economy.”
The last such gathering, in July 2016 in
Chengdu, China, issued a strong statement in favor
of free trade, saying “we will resist all forms of
protectionism.” Possible replacements include
support for “fairness.”
Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organiza-
tion for Economic Cooperation and Development,
downplayed differences over the exact language.
The OECD is one of several international organi-
zations invited to participate in the meeting.
Gurria told The Associated Press it was
“important to create a comfort zone” where
leaders could have their first discussions with the
new administration, “to make them feel that this
is a place where we can talk, we can ventilate the
areas where we have common ground and the areas
where we may have differences.”
European countries and others that depend on
exports, such as China, were said to be pushing for
a stronger statement in favor of trade with fewer
tariffs and other barriers in a rule-based system.
The gathering will help set the tone for inter-
national commerce and finance and will give
Mnuchin a chance to clarify what the U.S. position
is.
The G-20 is an informal forum on economic
cooperation made up of 19 countries with more
than 80 percent of the world economy, plus the
European Union. The finance ministers’ meeting
will pave the way for a summit of national leaders
in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7-8.
By KEN SWEET
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK — Wells
Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said
the company could need
several more months to
resolve customer damage
tied to its massive sales
practices scandal, such as
figuring out if people had
trouble getting approved
for other loans because
of the fake accounts bank
employees opened.
Speaking
with
The
Associated Press on Friday,
Sloan reiterated what he has
said since becoming CEO
in the wake of the scandal,
that rebuilding trust with
customers is his primary
focus since taking the job.
Wells Fargo has seen a
sharp drop in new account
openings and bank traffic
since admitting in September
that employees pressured to
meet ambitious sales goals
opened up to 2 million
accounts without customers’
permission. Sloan said he
believes the declines have
bottomed out, and customers
are incrementally returning.
Its January branch traffic data
showed that while checking
and credit cards applications
and traffic were down from
a year earlier, they were
up or stable compared to
December.
While Wells has changed
its sales practices, ousted
some executives and called
tens of millions of customers
to check on whether they
truly opened the accounts
in question, Sloan acknowl-
edged that the full scope of
the effect is not yet known.
Determining how a negative
mark on a customer’s credit
score caused by Wells Fargo
affected a person’s ability to
borrow money or take out a
mortgage is more complex
than concluding whether a
customer paid fees on their
checking account when they
shouldn’t have, he said.
“I will describe it as more
complicated than anyone
could have imagined, but
that’s not an excuse. It’s
HERMISTON
Advanced
Orthopedics
and Sports
Medicine joins
Good Shepherd
Medical Group
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Richard Drew
Wells Fargo CEO & President Timothy Sloan is inter-
viewed in one of his bank’s branches, in New York, Friday.
going to take a few more
months to work through. But
I assure you we will reme-
diate all those customers,”
Sloan said.
The scandal resulted in a
$185 million fine from the
Consumer Financial Protec-
tion Bureau, and directly led
to the abrupt retirement of
Sloan’s predecessor, John
Stumpf, in October. Both
Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt,
the executive in charge of
Wells Fargo’s retail banking
division, lost their 2016
bonuses and had tens of
millions of dollars in prom-
ised compensation clawed
back.
Wells Fargo’s board
of directors is conducting
its own investigation into
the bank’s sales practices,
a report that is expected
to be out in April ahead
of the annual shareholder
meeting. While that is still
in progress, the board has
cut bonuses to major exec-
utives — including Sloan
— as well as publicly firing
four high-level managers.
Sloan, who got a 17 percent
raise to $12.8 million when
he became CEO, says he
supports the board on that
move.
“If the board feels there
are other people responsible,
there should be conse-
quences,” he said.
Shareholder groups have
submitted proposals for the
annual meeting, pushing for
more transparency about
what took place during the
scandal. The board of direc-
tors has pushed back, saying
shareholders should wait to
see the board’s own review.
Sloan agreed with that.
“The board is saying,
‘Hey we are doing exactly
what you are asking us to
do. So why do we need this
proposal?’ My bet is that
they will be satisfied with the
board’s report,” he said.
Beyond the scandal,
Sloan said he feels the U.S.
economy is doing well. He
said it’s too early to gauge
President Trump’s
job
performance, but that Trump
will succeed as long as the
White House focuses on jobs
and economic growth.
Sloan said the bank has
seen a noticeable slowdown
in the number of Americans
applying for mortgages
since the Federal Reserve
has increased interest rates.
But Sloan says most of
that slowdown is tied to
customers who were trying
to refinance at lower interest
rates, and does not reflect
any fundamental slowdown
in the U.S. housing market
or economy.
“If rates rose dramat-
ically, that could have a
big negative impact, but I
think the Fed is cognizant
of the fact they want to
raise interest rates without
having a dramatic impact on
economic growth,” he said.
Advanced Orthopedics and
Sports Medicine has joined
Good
Shepherd
Medical
Group.
A press release from Good
Shepherd Health Care System
said the merger allows Good
Shepherd to retain “one of the
finest orthopedic surgeons in
the state.”
Advanced
Orthopedics,
located at 620 N.W. 11th St.,
Suite 201, provides advanced
orthopedic services for hips,
knees, shoulders, sports medi-
cine and total joint surgery.
Orthopedic surgeon Jeremy
Anderson said in a statement
that the move put Advanced
Orthopedics in a better posi-
tion to meet the needs of the
community.
“Healthcare is changing,”
he said. “There are more
regulations and more demands
being placed on independent
physician practices. Insurance
plans can be a challenge to
work with, and we struggle to
meet their requirements and
still stay competitive.”
Troy LeGore, vice president
of Good Shepherd Medical
Group, said the partnership
will allow the physicians at
Advanced Orthopedics to focus
on patients while “we take care
of the business of healthcare
delivery.” It will also allow
orthopedic patients to bundle
payments and take advantage
of financial assistance available
through Good Shepherd.
For more information or to
schedule an appointment call
541-289-7075 or visit www.
hermistonortho.com.
———
Business briefs are
compiled from staff and wire
reports, and press releases.
Email press releases to
business@eastoregonian.com
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