Wells Fargo & Co. has fired its head of consumer lending over communication he had with a former employee. The interaction didn’t involve recent scandals at the bank.
Franklin Codel was named head of Wells Fargo Home Lending in August 2015. A little more than a year later, he took over all of consumer lending as senior executive vice president.
Codel first came on board at Wells Fargo in 2004. In addition, he previously spent eight years at predecessor Norwest Mortgage.
The Harvard alumnus
has overseen the unit as the bank continues to grapple with the fallout from the unauthorized account scandal and the rate-lock extension fee scandal.
But Codel is out at Wells Fargo.
In a statement Friday, the San Francisco-based bank-holding company said Codel was immediately dismissed as a result of acting in a manner contrary to company policies and expectations for senior leaders. The behavior occurred during a communication with a former employee about that team member’s termination.
“The reasons for the dismissal did not involve the business or operations of consumer lending, the servicing of its customers, or its performance or financial results,” Wells Fargo stated. “The dismissal also did not pertain to sales practices at the company.”
An article from the Wall Street Journal indicated Codel made disparaging comments to the former employee about the regulatory system and golden parachute payments.
In the company’s statement, Wells Fargo & Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan expressed confidence there will be a smooth transition to a permanent successor, which the company expects to announced by the end of the year.
Codel’s former direct reports, including interim head of Wells Fargo Home Lending Michael DeVito,
will report directly to Sloan until the role is filled.
