New Wells Fargo Ad Is A Typical Wall Street Apology

I see Wells Fargo is out with a new TV ad in attempt to control the damage from the massive fraud that the company perpetrated for nearly a decade. I started seeing it quite a lot over the weekend and it will be interesting to see how long it runs. You can see the ad here but the text of the ad is quite simple and brief:

Wells Fargo is making changes to make things right.
1. Fully refunding those impacted
2. Proactive new account confirmations
3. Eliminated product sales goals
We're renewing our commitment to you.

Maybe because my outrage over this scandal is still so enormous, but I find this ad totally insulting. It is hard to believe they are fully refunding those who have been scammed because many customers probably did not even realize that they were being defrauded and probably still don't. And a class action settlement may not full cover what account holders lost. In addition, the bank is doing nothing for the honest salespeople who refused to engage in the fraud and were fired because of it. Second, the idea that proactive new account confirmations is something special they are doing for their customers is ridiculous. It is virtually standard procedure everywhere else and the fact that the bank was not doing it before just shows how bank policies abetted the fraud. Third, I don't really believe they've eliminated product sales goals. They are just using another metric that accomplishes virtually the same thing. That is the only way they can evaluate their salespeople. Finally, saying they are renewing their commitment to their customers is kind of like someone who has been cheating on their spouse for nearly a decade promising to renew their commitment only when they get caught. It just doesn't work that way. How gullible does Wells Fargo think their customers are? For years, the company ignored employees who brought the fraud to the attention of management at all levels. Then the CEO tried to blame the fraud on its low-level employees. There was no attempt by management to shoulder any of the blame. This is a typical Wall Street apology - there is no real admission of guilt and no one takes responsibility for the crime but they promise they've made changes and all will be good from now on. Don't believe it.