Hillary Clinton is going after Wells Fargo
The Democratic presidential nominee will introduce a proposal in a speech on Monday that would open up corporations to being sued by customers who are wronged instead of ending in arbitration.
Wells Fargo has been rocked by a scandal in recent weeks when it settled with regulators after employees of the bank opened 2 million accounts without the knowledge of customers. The accounts could have a lasting impact on their credit and other financial health.
Due to a clause in the agreement between Wells Fargo and customers, anyone who had an account opened without their knowledge must enter into arbitration with the bank instead of suing. Arbitration is overseen by a mediator instead of a jury and any settlement is private. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf repeatedly said in testimonies to both the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee that the bank will continue with the forced arbitration instead of allowing customers to go to court.
The Clinton campaign said in a statement previewing the speech the proposal will focus on "curbing the prevalence of fine-print 'forced arbitration' clauses in contracts that prevent workers and consumers (including Wells Fargo customers) from bringing legal action against companies who have harmed them."
Essentially, Clinton is arguing that forced arbitration closes the door to possible appeals by a wronged customer and does not allow them to get access to a full jury trial.
Clinton previously wrote an open letter to Wells Fargo customers, condemning the bank and calling out the corporate culture of Wall Street.
"Even after Americans spent years working hard to recover from the Great Recession, the culture of misconduct and recklessness that preceded that crisis too often persists," said the letter.
Clinton will also go after Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the EpiPen, which has faced criticism for increasing the cost of the emergency allergy drug. The statement from the campaign said Clinton will propose to "promote competition, address excessive market concentration and the abuse of economic power, and reinvigorate antitrust laws and enforcement."