Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said Tuesday morning that the bank was spending an additional $50 million a year to monitor its sales tactics, but appeared to lay the blame for problems that led to a $185 million fine from regulators on lower-level employees.

“The people we’re talking about here weren’t high performers,” he said while speaking at a financial-services conference in New York. “It was people trying to meet minimum goals to hang onto their job.”

Separately, Wells Fargo said Tuesday that it would eliminate all product sales goals in its retail banking operations starting in January. A settlement with regulators last week over sales tactics and cross-selling of products has raised questions about the bank’s culture and controls, especially around its push for employees to sell multiple products to individual customers.

Among allegations made by regulators were that Wells Fargo employees opened as many as two millions accounts for customers without their authorization. The bank didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing in its settlement.

Wells Fargo shares, down 13.3% on the year, fell 3% to $47.10 in mid-morning trading.