Let’s remember when Seattle tried to sever their relationship with Wells Fargo, on this day in 2017 (February 7)
Wells Fargo is a company that has no business being solvent today. The bank made headlines when their employees were opening back accounts in their customers’ names without their knowledge, so they could rack up fees against their own clients. It was heinous, but not entirely surprising.
The bank was also a financier of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. For that, the Seattle City Council tried to divest from Wells Fargo, attempting to pull $3 billion from the bank. The Stranger reported at the time:
The Seattle City Council has unanimously voted to end the city’s relationship with Wells Fargo over the bank’s financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), its financing of private prison companies, and a regulatory scandal involving the bank’s creation of two million unauthorized accounts.
All nine council members voted to take $3 billion of city funds away from the bank after Seattle’s current contract expires in 2018. The vote occurred just hours after the Army notified Congress that it will be granting an easement allowing DAPL builders to drill under the Missouri River following a presidential memo from Donald Trump.
Even with a unanimous vote and no solid reason for Wells Fargo’s continued existence, that proved easier said than done. Per King 5:
Months after the Seattle City Council voted to cut ties with Wells Fargo over its role as a lender to the Dakota Access pipeline project, the city of Seattle is sticking with the banking giant.
Seattle finance director Glenn Lee tells The Seattle Times that the city tried to find a new bank to handle its $3 million operating account. But it got no takers.
