Legal woes dent Wells Fargo’s earnings

Of total operational losses in Q4, legal costs accounted for 79%

Wells Fargo set aside $1.5 billion of legal reserves relating to its ‘ghost account’ scandal and other dubious sales practices in the fourth quarter of 2019. Operating losses over the previous two quarters, including these legal costs, have been the highest going back to Q4 2017.

Total operating losses for Q4 2019 were $1.9 billion, the same as in Q3. Legal provisions made up $1.6 billion of these losses in Q3 and $1.5 billion in Q4.

Prior to these last two quarters, the highest operating loss