Sen. Warren tells Wells Fargo CEO he should be fired

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan in Stanford, Calif., on Monday, June 26, 2017. Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan in Stanford, Calif., on Monday, June 26, 2017. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sen. Warren tells Wells Fargo CEO he should be fired 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan appeared in front of the Senate Banking Committee in Washington Tuesday morning to testify about the bank’s efforts to address a scandal that severely damaged the company’s reputation. Last year, Wells Fargo disclosed that employees created up to 2 million fraudulent accounts in the names of real consumers in order to hit aggressive sales goals. The bank has since admitted that the number of accounts may actually be 3.5 million.

9 a.m. — The hearing is over.

8:31 a.m. — Sloan says the bank could not take action on the LA Times story because the newspaper would not provide information before publication.

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8:30 a.m. — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, notes that Sloan said that he was not aware of several pieces of information. "What else were you not aware of?" She adds that Wells Fargo should not have to rely on the LA Times to provide information in order to discover wrongdoing.

8:12 a.m. — Sloan says Wells Fargo has now centralized enterprise risk management. He suggests that's why the company missed the scandal.

8:03 a.m. — Sen. Schatz: So you're too big.

8:03 a.m. — Sloan: We serve one out of three customers. The bank employs a lot of people.

8:02 a.m. — Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asks: Why shouldn't the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (a federal bank regulator) revoke Wells Fargo's charter?

7:53 a.m. — Sen. Warren to Sloan: "You lied." She says Sloan enabled the fake account scam and was at best incompetent, at worst complicit. “You need to be fired."

7:53 a.m. — Sloan says that since he become CEO, he made fundamental changes to the company.

7:52 a.m. — Warren quotes Sloan as saying that the bank’s "fundamental strategy will not change."

7:49 a.m. — Warren notes that in a Los Angeles Times story, Sloan said he wasn’t aware of a problem with the bank’s sales culture. Sloan said the newspaper did not provide any information.

7:48 a.m. — Warren: I read transcripts. No one bragged more, not even John Stumpf (the former Wells Fargo CEO who resigned last year), about opening new accounts.

7:47 a.m. — Sloan: "No I didn't."

7:46 a.m. — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, notes Sloan served as the bank’s chief financial officer and spoke to investors a lot. He aggressively promoted bank's ability to open new accounts, she says.

7:45 a.m. — Sloan says Wells Fargo has hired 17,000 branch employees since September. Ten percent of that number were rehires, including people the bank dismissed for not meeting sales goals.

7:43 a.m. — Sloan says yes.

7:42 a.m. — Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) asks if Sloan is confident that 3.5 million possible fake accounts is the right number.

7:40 a.m. — Sloan says "We're not doing it," of forced arbitration with regard to accounts that were used to make fake accounts.

7:39 a.m. —Sloan commits that the bank "will make it right" for consumers on fake accounts. He hedges on whether the bank will not used forced arbitration.

7:37 a.m. — Sloan says that "listening to (employees) changes culture."

7:34 a.m. — Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana asks Sloan what has been done to change the bank’s culture. "If we're here again six months from now, it will not be good."

7:32 a.m. — Sloan says the bank didn't examine accounts prior to 2009, the merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia.

7:29 a.m. — "I'm not against big. I'm against dumb." -- Sen John Kennedy, R- Lousiana.

7:28 a.m. — Sloan says Wells Fargo made fundamental changes to its business that will limit the need for arbitration.

7:25 a.m. — Sen. Brown says that forced arbitration always favors the bank.

7:25 a.m. — Sloan says the bank will not abandon forced arbitration.

7:23 a.m. — Sloan says the bank acted too slow.

7:22 a.m. — Sen. Brown: We still don't have a good answer on how this happened. Prior to 2015, did you see any problems with bank?

7:19 a.m. — Sloan says 41,000 people responded to bank’s request for information from people concerned about credit scores. Half of them had impacted credit scores.

7:18 a.m. — Sen. Crapo asks: How is Wells Fargo compensating people for impacted credit scores?

7:17 a.m. — Sloan: "If there is a problem, we want to hear about it." Sloan completes remarks. Questions from senators begin.

7:15 a.m. — Sloan says that the bank always expected there were more fraudulent accounts.

7:12 a.m. — Sloan: "I also want to be clear about another thing: Wells Fargo is a better bank today than it was a year ago. And next year, Wells Fargo will be a better bank than it is today. That is because we have spent the past year determined to earn back the public’s trust."

7:12 a.m. — Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan starts prepared remarks, which read, in part: “Let me be very clear about this: I am deeply sorry for letting down our customers and team members.”

“I apologize for the damage done to all the people who work and bank at this important American institution. When the challenges at Wells Fargo demanded decisive action, the bank’s leaders acted too slowly and too incrementally. That was unacceptable.”

7:09 a.m. — "Has the bank changed?" asked ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown. He accuses the bank of deliberating hiding information or misleading people. He adds: "It's no wonder the public doesn't trust our financial institutions.”

7:03 a.m. — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo notes company’s recent disclosures about finding possible new fraudulent accounts and misconduct in auto insurance business.

“These new developments raise questions about Wells Fargo’s behavior,” he said.

7:02 a.m. — Hearing starts. The Senators acknowledge Las Vegas shootings

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee