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Dear Fellow Quorans,James is a good friend of many years. I thought you'd enjoy reading his answer to this question.He also used to use our home as his SF base of operations and supported Tom and me during my 'dark' time. He's also the most brilliant retail/ shopping/lifestyle/ town center designer I know.He designed the retail portion of the Venetian Hotel in Vegas, Watertower place in Chicago, and many other renown shopping destinations all over the world.Oh, he's another gay man doing good work in the USA! HahaFeel free to share with your friends. Especially those still on the fence re LGBT ️‍ rights/marriage etc..Warm regardsGordonHere is James answer;"I've spent the last several days talking some close friends down since the election.Some of the angst is justified....especially on the potential for civil rights reversal, but a lot of it is misplaced. Here's why.Let's face it. Many of us live in bubbles and don't always have such great perspectives, and I say this as a man who works disturbingly long hours to afford to live in a stupidly expensive, amenity-filled place, brimming with convenience and activity.With love to many fiends who rightfully have a concern that part of Trump's voters seem to want a return to a social order that subjugates some our citizens into second class status; That battle may lie before us, and let's not forget that and redouble efforts to protect those rights.However, I see this differently.Yes, Trump wanted to win and vanquish his opponents playing a game he is uniquely skilled at, but to have won at the level he did is because he spoke to a huge part of America that isn't 'deplorable'.They're suffering and anxious and frustrated.They want decent jobs, and their home towns a sense of dignity restored. Some revival....some hope that the some of that affluence we have on the coasts and in the more stable cities would flow their way. It's not just promises of new jobs...it's a sense that they've been abandoned.And they have....some for a long time.As most of you know, I work in the field of architecture and urban design, and America is a treasure of natural beauty and charming places..some big, and countless small towns and cities. Many contain architectural wonders from a time long past, and sadly, an economy that left them behind and abandoned.Through my work and travel, I've been afforded the great privilege of getting a perspective few of us experience.Many times, I pull off the interstates...and drive into these towns only seen on a map.Damn...we built some amazing places...and few of us ever appreciate them. I often look and walk around these towns, taking pictures..imagining what this place was once like at its zenith, sometime before urban renewal chewed parts of the them down, the malls emptied them out, and the local factories went silent.Oftentimes, that was decades ago.I get mocked at times by friends here on the coast for saying 'so, you're off to the hinterlands again? Have a good time', in a sort of sarcastic lilt.I get it...they have no reason to go to such places, or 'escaped' them long ago. Many who left found many of these towns culturally unwelcoming...but that is also changing.Trump won handily in these places and their home states.I've had the great fortune to visit so many, and are still home to numerous, wonderful people who often made me feel welcome.Charleston, Wheeling and Huntington WV.Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Allentown, Lancaster, Erie, Washington, Altoona and Harrisburg, PA.Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica, NY.Almost ever small city in Ohio, from Dayton to Zanesville to Steubenville to Toledo....you name it.Ft Wayne, Logansport, and Terre Haute, Indiana.Peoria, Decatur and Springfield, IL.Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Jackson, MI.Racine, Janesville and Eau Claire, WII've been through some others for no reason other than to see them.Texarkana Texas/Ark...a completely abandoned downtown...filled with buildings I wish I could pick up and move elsewhere before they're rotted and gone.East St Louis IL looks like it went through World War II.St Joseph, MO has some amazing architecture.The Quad cities in Iowa/IL.....each with their own downtown and neighborhoods you couldn't afford to replicate today.....and many more than I can list here.These places....are all quietly amazing.You can see vestiges of wealth that built them...filled with beautiful, old...amazing buildings and homes.If they were in Seattle, Austin, SF, Portland, Princeton, L.A., San Diego or any of the numerous hot spots in the economy, they would be filled with one percenters, techies, finance firms, or start ups...living and working in them...and would cost a fortune.Yet beautiful, old and abandoned towns and buildings don't get investment in places that are economically struggling.It breaks your heart.None of this should be as abandoned like it is. You don't see wholesale cities and towns empty like this anywhere else in the world.Not to the extent America has it. It says a lot about our priorities.I've have friends from overseas marvel that our Main Streets and towns feel so empty. They can't understand it and often I explain that many of these towns were built around a few core industries that left, we're outsourced, or whose products were no longer were needed.Yet, many people still live there. They have to.Their families and support networks are there, or there's just not the resources or opportunity to go elsewhere.Even if they do, some people have rough time adjusting to new places....it takes time to rebuild the social infrastructure of one's life.I've lived in nine different cities, so take my word on that.I drive through their downtowns and the old neighborhoods...many still in good shape, a lot on the edge of despair. A few are just gone.....without any rational way of being restored.Some of the bigger towns like Buffalo are seeing a resurgence, but the factories, mills and places that made it are never going to be replaced with new industry at the same scale, and like Detroit, St Louis, or Newark...they're half the size they once were. It costs a fortune to uphold a city that is too big for itself. Parks, schools and streets are not cheap to maintain, but they're also big enough places with extensive infrastructure that can be 're-invented'.It's the smaller towns that hit me.What happened in these places has been a slow motion disaster that has no easy answer and needs the equivalent of a 'Marshall Plan' to save.In these hollowed out towns, the biggest employers now are the hospitals, maybe a university....and the rest of the jobs? There are few white collar professions, and most are service or retail and don't pay what is needed to live on, even at $15 an hour. The tiny farm towns suffer from heroin addiction, and tax bases that can't support decent schools, infrastructure, senior centers or health services.Take that all into account and it's really not a shock that a crude, bombastic, wealthy reality TV star, with his glitzy real estate projects and trophy wife collection....telling them he's got the solution, and is going to reverse all those trade deals and bring back jobs and build things......is going to sell a whole lot better than a political technocrat...who may know the numbers and the actual reality, but cannot connect or really offer anything more than 'programs' which never seem to happen or work for those that need them.What do you do with Dayton, or Huntington, or Flint? They can't dry up and blow away...or can they? It seems a lot of us have no issue with that idea. Trump won in these areas because he gave the people in these small, struggling towns and cities something to believe in...even if many of us think it's hot air and promises.Here's another fact. There are hell of a lot more Toledos, Akrons, Elkharts, and Wheelings than there are big tech towns and affluent cities...and although they don't represent the majority population, they are too numerous to ignore. We've got to figuring out ways to give these places a chance to thrive....because if automation and robotics already wiped out how many countless jobs in these places.....what happens to a lot of the rest of us when A.I. starts wiping out the professions that uphold the upmarket economies on each of the coasts?Terrifying....isn't it?And if we don't start figuring out how to help these other places, there's not a lot of hope we'll fare any better when that starts to happens, and it's coming..believe me on this. The business world is salivating over the potential cost savings this new age will bring...since their job is to make money. Nothing more. You saw what happened after 2008. Altruism and community were not part of the equation when it came to severely retracting economy and as soon as companies could offshore and or automate jobs, they did. Our productivity levels have since soared....and yet very few decent playing jobs that are not in health care, tech or finance came out of this latest economic recovery. Those who lost their homes in these towns saw first hand the insidious sham that the 'mortgage bailout' was.Investor pools eventually got most of the homes or they sit, rotting and abandoned.I've often...too many times to count...thought of leaving Los Angeles for somewhere..a lot less expensive (a decent 2br place in central L.A. Is now almost $3k a month!)...and start over, but at mid age, with responsibilities that don't transfer easily, and clients who value face time...well...that's an another 'essay'.I'm also not willing, yet...to make that move.I'll be honest. As much as I extort their virtues, I culturally don't feel all that welcome in these smaller towns. That is something these places must start to work on; accepting the diversity of a people who'd consider moving there who sometimes look, think, act or pray differently than maybe what's there now. Welcoming such people might help to revive these places on a level that would make a real difference.Also, it's hard to move to one of these places when you've become used to, if not built your life around almost virtual, if not adjacent convenience.There are not going to be coffee shops that stay open until 11 pm, selling $4 lattes and artisan treats, next to my walkable neighborhood of old building or houses where I fantasize my 'loft' would be.There are often no bookshops where I can browse for hours, eclectic cafes or restaurants, or art supply stores. Often there is only a regional airport with (fantastically expensive) connections to the hubs to get back to the cities for work.....or the numerous other amenities I've come to rely on that just come with solid populations and high paying jobs.The national chain stores and restaurants are also few and far between....and believe me, I've often advocated for their reps to look differently at these places. Yet, they insist on building drive up and drive-through places in such areas....built to maximize profit...and in the process, diminish community.That's what their customers want...which is why every one of these towns has a strip mall row..mostly centered near the big box stores, the WalMart, Kmart or almost dead mall.The older shops are often filled with check cashing places, buy-to-rent furniture, dollar stores, county health care clinics, start-up churches and fast food places, and to see it so often is soul deadening.I've had numerous discussions with people about investing into a few of these towns...trying to figure out a way of restoring some aspects. Banks and Investor groups want safe and easy returns and that is not going to change anytime soon. Add in any form of government subsidies, and the whole game becomes a cluster of red tape and sub-interests, all looking for their 'cut', and again.....all those nice amenities won't survive without the very thing that these places don't have....good paying jobs.That's why Trump won. He spoke to their hopes...however faint we may believe they are. It's why America feels foreign today to some of us. Take a trip into this other America. It's as real as any of the big affluent towns and to see it, you'll soon understand many of these people blew off the racism, misogyny, bigotries, stereotypes and countless other things said, because they heard him speak about hope for their lives, livelihoods and towns.White collar professions, high tech, open air offices with your bike and dog, microbreweries, fancy coffee shops, expensive boutiques, farm to table sidewalk cafes and multiple bids on your condo are a fantasy belonging to a world these people feel left them behind, and sometimes mock them for it.If you read this all the way through, I give you credit and please grade my syntax and grammar on a curve of sleep deprivation and a meh mood, and know that you have too much time on your hands. ;)To my friends who are struggling with the outcome....take heart.No electoral swing lasts long, and in the interim, we have a lot of work to do....and I hope this gives you an understanding of where some of us might begin. "

The air transport sector (passenger and freight) represents only a small share of OECD countries’ value-added (around 0.3 % on average, see Figure 1). Yet, strong inter-industry linkages with both upstream and downstream sectors make it an important part of the economy.First, air transport relies on several upstream sectors: support activities to air transportation (including the operation of airports); aircraft manufacturing; rental and leasing services; and refined petroleum manufacturing (including the blending of biofuels). In particular, the air transport sector and airports are inherently intertwined. Some airports depend heavily on one or a few companies that use it as a hub. Shared ownership is common, either by private actors (e.g. Lufthansa owning a minority share in Frankfurt’s airport) or by the public sector. The OECD Indicators on Product Market Regulation show that in 2018, the public sector was a shareholder of the largest domestic airport in three out of every four OECD countries and of the largest air carrier in one out of three countries. Moreover, aircraft manufacturers are highly dependent on demand from the air transport sector, directly or through leasing companies. Because both the activity level and the strategic decisions concerning air transport, airports and aircraft manufacturing are linked, this brief considers them jointly as the “aviation industry”.Industries based on ISIC classification (Air transport: Division 51; Manufacturing of air and spacecrafts: Group 303; Operation of airports: Class 5223). Value-added for the operation of airports not available in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States.Second, air transport is a key input for downstream sectors, as it enables several economic activities by way of trade in goods and especially in services through the movement of natural persons (i.e. mode 4 services trade). Air cargo is essential for the smooth operations of global supply chains. Business travel is an important channel of international knowledge transfer. The availability of non-stop intercontinental flights is an important determinant of the location of large firms’ headquarters, even though the impact of airports on local economic activity is debated. The readiness of flights reaching a large number of destinations is also instrumental for tourism, in particular international tourism.Beyond inter-industry linkages, air transport is characterised by both complementarity and substitutability with other modes of transport, especially high-speed rail on short- and medium-haul routes. Under pre-COVID conditions, the International Energy Agency estimated that 14% of global flights could be competitively shifted to high-speed rail. Yet, air transport remains essential for territorial cohesion and development convergence as it is often the only viable way of connecting peripheral regions.When the COVID-19 crisis hit air transport, the whole aviation industry was affected. The change in the behaviour of passengers following the COVID-19 crisis, travel restrictions and the ensuing economic crisis have resulted in a dramatic drop in demand for airline services. According to IATA, passenger air transport measured as revenue passenger kilometre was down 90% year-on-year in April 2020 and still down 75% in August. The collapse in economic activity and trade affected freight, which was almost 30% lower year-on-year in April and still about 12% lower in August.The size of the shock has put the liquidity buffers of airline companies under pressure, even if a significant share of its costs are variable (around 50% according to IATA, notably fuel accounting for 25% of the total costs) and the recent drop in oil prices has decreased airlines’ operating costs.In the medium run, airline companies face two uncertainties:The cost of health-related measures. Operating costs are likely to increase in the short-run for both airlines and airports because of additional health and safety requirements (e.g. disinfection, PPE, temperature checks or viral tests) before they can be passed on to consumers. Moreover, if implemented for air transport, social distancing measures could force a reduction in the passenger load factor (i.e. the number of seats that can be occupied during a flight) by up to 50%.The shape of the recovery for commercial flights. International travel restrictions, the contraction of economic activity and changes in transport behaviour by cautious consumers may prevent a return to pre-crisis demand levels, even as lockdowns and domestic travel restrictions measures are loosened in many countries. Commercial air traffic is slow to recover: as of September 2020, the number of flights remains more than 40% below pre-crisis level globally (Figure 2). This hides differences across flight lengths: the drop is even more pronounced for long-haul flights. In the longer run, changes in consumer behaviour may result in structural changes in air transport demand. Even though the rebound of domestic flights in China suggests that traffic may revert to pre-crisis levels, a permanent drop in demand from pre-crisis levels cannot be excluded, either through modal shifts in services trade (e.g. video-conferencing instead of business travel) or, to a lesser extent, through substitution with other modes of transport (e.g. high-speed trains).The combination of negative demand and supply shocks and the uncertainty around the medium-run outlook create an uncertain perspective for airline companies. Through inter-industry linkages, this uncertainty affects the whole aviation industry. Moreover, the industry remains exposed to a possible resurgence of the pandemic, as governments may impose new air travel restrictions to tackle flare-ups or a potential second wave of infections. This may threaten the existence of some firms in the industry, as production and revenues are likely to remain inferior to pre-crisis levels for some time.7-day moving average of the number of commercial flights tracked by Flightradar24 per day (UCT time). Commercial air traffic includes commercial passenger flights, cargo flights, charter flights and some business jet flights; it does not include private flights, gliders, helicopter flights, ambulance flights, government flights, military flights or drones.Airline companies were in very different situations before the COVID-19 crisis began. In particular, air transport is one of the sectors with the highest dispersion in productivity across firms and, to a lesser extent, in profitability. Airline companies thus entered the crisis with strikingly different abilities to withstand such a shock and heterogeneous prospects for the future.Bankruptcies or mergers and acquisitions among large companies could have a negative effect on competition in air transport, with possible repercussions on prices. Even if 80% of passenger seats are on routes with several carriers, many of these routes rely on a small number of firms (36% of routes involve only two or three carriers).Aviation is often a target of policy intervention, and even more so with COVID-19Looking ahead, policy interventions should foster the resilience and sustainability of the aviation industryGovernments have to strike the balance between support to the aviation industry and the need to preserve competition, in particular when considering firm-specific measuresThe risk that government interventions negatively affect business dynamics and productivity may be particularly acute for air transport, given the high dispersion of profitability and productivity across firms in the sector. With demand likely to remain muted in the medium run, the sector has started to adapt and downsize. In this context, governments should enable downsizing rather than counter it, being particularly careful to foster restructuring or exit of the least efficient firms while continuing to target an efficient use of public resources.In the process of restructuring, government need to smoothen the transition for displaced workers. Besides mitigating costs for firms, job retention schemes protected aviation industry workers’ income at the height of the crisis. As uncertainty regarding the cost of health measures and the shape of recovery for commercial flights resolves, job retention schemes need to adjust to target jobs that are viable but at risk of being terminated. At the same time, governments need to focus on supporting aviation industry workers at risk of becoming unemployed, rather than supporting specific jobs.Policy interventions should encourage investment to improve the sustainability of the aviation industryAlthough significant, the reduction in emissions due to containment measures and the economic crisis is likely to be only temporary, and will be inconsequential in slowing down climate change. While the grounding of a significant part of the global fleet could result in the retirement of the least efficient aircraft, the COVID-19 crisis could also reduce or postpone the necessary low-carbon investments due to financial constraints and the recent drop in oil prices. The crisis has already dampened the ambitions of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).Mission-oriented strategies aimed at greening the aviation industry can be a useful tool in this respect, and industrial-policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis targeting the aviation industry should be part of the low-carbon transition strategies implemented or under discussion in many OECD countries. Such co-ordinated packages of policy measures can contribute to addressing societal challenges, in particular by co-ordinating all stakeholders and ensuring the consistency and complementarity of public and private investments.Here is what to expect from airports of the (near) future.A mad dash for “touchless” technologyIt’s widely anticipated that airports will transition to touchless technology at a much quicker rate as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.“We are seeing five years’ innovation in five months, and much of the impact will be permanent,” said Ibrahim Ibrahim, the managing director of Portland Design, a London-based design consultancy with a focus on transit hubs and airports. “We will see a turbo-charged uptake on tech-driven zero-touch check in, security and boarding.”To verify passenger identities, driver’s licenses and passports are being replaced with facial-recognition and iris-scanning biometrics. Facial recognition biometrics compare travelers’ faces with government passport databases.The first biometric terminal in the U.S. opened in Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in late 2018. Third-party research shows 72% of customers preferred biometric boarding over standard boarding, and less than 2% of customers opted out of the process, per Delta’s website.“Delta has expanded its facial recognition boarding practices to airports in Detroit, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City,” said design strategist Devin Liddell who works with aviation and travel clients. “United Airlines has pilot programs doing testing now in San Francisco, Washington Dulles and Houston.”The same pace of testing and deployment of biometrics is underway internationally at airports in Canada, Japan, Italy, Spain and Iceland.Mobile phones will play a critical role too, one that extends beyond mobile boarding passes (which were introduced over a decade ago).“Your mobile phone will become your remote control to manage your travel”. “Today, you can interact with a check-in or bag-drop kiosk through your phone, eliminating contact with surfaces. However, in the longer term we see your digital identity being stored on your mobile.”Airport experiences will be walking ones, where identities are verified in seconds and passengers are kept in constant motion. Its Smart Path technology is used at airports in Athens, Brisbane, Doha, Muscat, Orlando, Miami and Boston.Dubai International Airport has a “smart tunnel” that uses biometrics to speed up immigration control. With it, passengers can clear an immigration check in 15 seconds.A traveler passes through immigration control by walking through a "smart tunnel " at Dubai International Airport.Airport checkpoints may come in many forms, from tunnels and gardens to automated walkways. And they will be more important than ever in the wake of Covid-19 as “security queues are the antithesis of physical distancing.What about the pre-boarding pileup of people who hover around the gate agents before their rows or categories are called? Airlines may use mobile phone notifications to quietly call customers to board.“We bring people to the gate too soon,” said Liddell. “This happens because passengers can’t adequately predict how long it will take to maneuver security screening processes, and also because airlines communicate most reliably at the gate versus via digital means.”He predicts that in the post-Covid-19 era ahead, crowding everyone together at the gate will feel “more and more untenable,” forcing airports to find ways to bring passengers together just prior to boarding.Changing the security lineHow to streamline a process that requires passengers to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, while placing their shoes and outerwear in reusable bins alongside germ-laden handbags and laptop computers?Booking appointments to pass through security is one way to reduce crowds and long lines. At Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, passengers book their own screenings. But Tim Hudson, an aviation leader at the global architectural firm Gensler, said airports could assign spots similar to “easy-access passes offered by amusements parks.”“With the use of smart technology, the airport would assign passengers a dedicated time slot to enter the security checkpoint,” said Hudson. “This strategy will allow airports to anticipate and manage passenger loads, while helping passengers minimize contact with other passengers and contaminated surfaces.”Airport security is a trifecta of post-pandemic problems: crowding, passenger touch points and (occasionally) security agents touching your belongings.Airport security is a trifecta of post-pandemic problems: crowding, passenger touch points and (occasionally) security agents touching your belongings.Programs such as Global Entry rely on biometrics to zip enrollees past long immigration and security lines. The TSA PreCheck program in the United States — which deals exclusively with security lines — is testing biometric technology (it currently manually compares passengers to their photo IDs). But, passengers have to sign up and pay for these programs.“As travelers, we have to opt into the process and become more comfortable with sharing our private information,” said Hudson. “If travelers are willing to give up a little more data, the process from curb to gate will be much more streamlined.”“Biometrics work to confirm your identity and the validity of your travel documents, not what you’re carrying with you,”. “Other technologies, such as computed tomography, which applies algorithms and the creation of 3D images to detect explosives and other threats in baggage, as well as other computer vision systems, are emerging to innovate how airports and TSA address the prohibited items problem.”Cleaning everything from luggage to peopleSimpliflying, an airline marketing strategy firm, predicts luggage will be fogged and “sanitagged” on the check-in belt. Carry-on luggage (as well as the bins) will be disinfected by fogging, UV-light or another quick technique in the X-ray security machine.Your bags may not be the only thing that is sanitized. Hong Kong International Airport is testing a full-body disinfection booth made by CleanTech that disinfects from head to toe during a 40-second sterilization process.Airports will be cleaned more often with emphasis on touchless methods of disinfection. Singapore’s Changi Airport is doubling terminal cleanings and coating high-touch points — such as handrails, lift buttons and cart handles — with a disinfectant that reduces viral and bacterial transmission for up to six months. Hong Kong is using Intelligent Sterilisation Robots to kill up to 99.99% of bacteria and viruses in the air.Three Intelligent Sterilization Robots are deployed around-the-clock in Hong Kong International Airport.Kentucky’s Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport has quadrupled the number of automated hand sanitizer stations throughout the terminal and replaced more than 100 manual bathroom soap dispensers with automated units. Only 5% of hand towel dispensers weren’t automated, and they are being replaced too.More relaxed and spacious terminalsSmoother check-in and security screenings will leave passengers happier, less stressed and more likely to spend money in departure lounges.“Digital payment systems will be introduced that will make tills, cashiers and conveyor belts increasingly redundant,” he said. “Queues will eventually be anathema in stores.”The virtual information booth at Kentucky's Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.The virtual information booth at Kentucky’s Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.Autonomous vehicles, robots and artificial intelligence will play bigger roles, especially in ways that eliminate lines and crowds. In the meantime, you can still speak to real people, even if they aren’t physically present. Louisville’s airport has installed a virtual information booth where passengers can speak to a representative through a live video feed.Dining and retail areas may eventually be separated, with virtual reality or holographic imagery to show buyers options and purchases delivered by a bot.A check on disease, rather than a conduitAs airports are adding cameras and sensors to combat Covid-19 infections, Liddell believes that air hubs could eventually become a place to detect and contain emerging health threats, rather than the unintentional vector of disease that they are today.Etihad Airways is testing kiosks in Abu Dhabi International Airport that monitor body temperatures and heart and respiratory rates. Other airlines are relying on symptom questionnaires and thermal cameras. Perhaps CT lung scanning will be implemented, as Simpliflying predicts, with results produced before passengers can fly.Staff at Doha’s Hamad International Airport are donning smart screening helmets that assess body temperatures using thermal imaging, artificial intelligence and augmented reality, the airport said.Staff at Hamad International Airport wear temperature-screening helmets.Those measures are not foolproof, however. As people infected with Covid-19 can be contagious while asymptomatic or before the onset of symptoms, airport screenings can feel more like a sieve, sifting out only the most obvious cases.Hong Kong International Airport was the first airport to announce mandatory testing for all arriving passengers. New arrivals take a shuttle bus to the Asia World-Expo to provide “deep throat saliva samples” and await results, a process which has been reported to take up to eight hours.Much ado was made when Emirates began trialing rapid finger-prick blood tests to a small subset of passengers last month. The tests were for antibodies though — not Covid-19 infections — and when accuracy rates were found to be around 30%, the Dubai Health Authority, who administered the tests, banned them altogether.Vienna International Airport announced on May 4 that incoming travelers without proof of a negative Covid-19 test within the previous four days could avoid a mandatory 14-day quarantine by taking a test at the airport for 190 euros (US$208). However, the testing is only available to passengers with a residence in Austria and a valid residence permit, hardly making it a viable option for business travelers and tourists.Airport testing may become more common when rapid-result Covid-19 kits are developed, which may not be too far away. Ichortec, a German-based biotech company, says it has developed a nasal swab test that can detect Covid-19 in under three minutes with no less than 95% accuracy. Patents for the test are pending in the U.S., Germany and the European Union.In the immediate future, air travel is expected to get worse before it gets better.The post-pandemic flying process may start 24 hours before you take off, with passengers checking in online, uploading health information, pre-purchasing a mask and pair of gloves and paying to sit next to an empty seat (though the latter option didn’t work out well for Frontier Airlines).Those predictions are part of a report issued last month by Simpliflying that predicts more than 70 areas in an air traveler’s day will change as a result of the global pandemic.The report states passengers can expect to arrive four hours prior to departure and pass through a disinfection tunnel and thermal body scanner before entering the airport. Those who are “fit to fly” will be allowed in; non-travelers and anyone deemed unfit will be strictly prohibited from entering.Passengers who check in via agents will do so behind a protective barrier. Miami International Airport has already installed them, as well as at TSA checkpoint podiums and boarding counters.An employee installs plexiglass shields on check-in counters at Sarajevo International Airport on May 19, 2020.On May 21, the TSA announced that customers will now scan their own boarding passes, rather than passing them to an agent. Food should be placed in a clear plastic bag and put into a bin, to reduce triggering alarms that require agent inspection. Up to 12 ounces of liquid sanitizer are now allowed in carry-on luggage too.“The greatest security issues will be the potential for disruptive behavior as longer wait times increase and decline in service offerings like food and drinks become the new norm,” said Timothy Williams, a vice chairman of Pinkerton, a security firm.VaccinesAs the Covid-19 vaccine becomes more widely available, it will become a ‘must-have’ for travelers.“I think for international travel, it will become a requirement, whether it's the airline that does it or some international authorities do it,".The travel tool kit will likely also include digital health passports displaying a traveler’s vaccine or negative test status and travel corridors between countries with low Covid-19 infection rates, said Fiona Ashley, vice president for travel marketing at SAP Concur travel and expense management service.While there are some great fare deals being offered right now, as demand returns, so will higher prices. And going forward, travelers will likely also need to factor in the added costs of Covid-19 tests and travel insurance.“Travel insurance may become non-negotiable as destinations continue to require medical insurance, and travel suppliers tighten their refund policies,” said Megan Moncrief, chief marketing officer at travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth.“The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of the global travel industry. I think travelers will be more cautious about investing in expensive trips without insurance,” Moncrief said.

Wells Fargo - WikipediaWells FargoFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to searchFor other uses, see Wells Fargo (disambiguation).Wells Fargo & CompanyCompany logo since 2009Wells Fargo's headquarters complex in San Francisco, CaliforniaTypePublicTraded asNYSE: WFCS&P 100 componentS&P 500 componentISINUS9497461015IndustryBankingFinancial servicesInsurancePredecessorsCollapsible list[show]FoundedMarch 18, 1852 (167 years ago) in San Francisco, California, USFoundersHenry WellsWilliam FargoHeadquarters420 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California, USNumber of locations8,050 branches (2018)13,000 ATMs (2018)Area servedWorldwideKey peopleElizabeth Duke(Chair)C. Allen Parker(Interim President & CEO)John R. Shrewsberry(CFO)ProductsCollapsible list[show]RevenueUS$86.40 billion (2018)Operating incomeUS$30.28 billion (2018)Net incomeUS$22.39 billion (2018)Total assetsUS$1.895 trillion (2018)Total equityUS$197.06 billion (2018)OwnerBerkshire Hathaway (10%)Membersc.70 million (2018)Number of employeesc.258,700 (2018)SubsidiariesWells Fargo AdvisorsWells Fargo Bank, N.A.Wells Fargo RailWells Fargo SecuritiesRatingFitch: A+ (2018)Moody's: A2 (2018)S&P: A− (2018)Websitewellsfargo.comFootnotes / references[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]Wells Fargo branch in Berkeley, CaliforniaWells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial servicescompany headquartered in San Francisco, California, with central offices throughout the United States.[9]It is the world's fourth-largest bank by market capitalization and the fourth largest bank in the US by total assets.[10][11]Wells Fargo is ranked #26 on the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest US corporations by total revenue.[12]In July 2015, Wells Fargo became the world's largest bank by market capitalization, edging past ICBC,[11]before slipping behind JPMorgan Chase in September 2016, in the wake of a scandal involving the creation of over 2 million fake bank accounts by Wells Fargo employees.[10]Wells Fargo fell behind Bank of America to third by bank deposits in 2017[13]and behind Citigroup to fourth by total assets in 2018.[14]The firm's primary operating subsidiary is national bank Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., which designates its main office as Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Wells Fargo in its present form is a result of a merger between San Francisco–based Wells Fargo & Company and Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998 and the subsequent 2008 acquisition of Charlotte-based Wachovia. Following the mergers, the company transferred its headquarters to Wells Fargo's headquarters in San Francisco and merged its operating subsidiary with Wells Fargo's operating subsidiary in Sioux Falls. Along with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup, Wells Fargo is one of the "Big Four Banks" of the United States.[15]As of June 2018, it had 8,050 branches and 13,000 ATMs.[2]In 2018 the company had operations in 35 countries with over 70 million customers globally.[2]In February 2014, Wells Fargo was named the world's most valuable bank brand for the second consecutive year[16]in The Banker and Brand Financestudy of the top 500 banking brands.[17]In 2016, Wells Fargo ranked 7th on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest public companies in the world and ranked 27th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in the US.[7][18]In 2015, the company was ranked the 22nd most admired company in the world, and the 7th most respected company in the world.[7]As of December 2018, the company had a Standard & Poors credit rating of A−.[8]However, for a brief period in 2007, the company was the only AAA‑rated bank, reflecting the highest credit rating from two firms.[19]On February 2, 2018, the US Federal Reserve Bank barred Wells Fargo from growing its nearly US$2 trillion-asset base any further, based upon years of misconduct, until Wells Fargo fixes its internal problems to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve.[20]In April 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Labor had launched a probe into whether Wells Fargo was pushing its customers into more expensive retirement plans as well as intoretirement funds managed by Wells Fargo itself.[21][22]Subsequently in May 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Wells Fargo's business banking group had improperly altered documents about business clients in 2017 and early 2018.[23]In June 2018, Wells Fargo began retreating from retail bankingin the Midwestern United States by announcing the sale of all its physical bank branch locations in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio to Flagstar Bank.[24][13]Contents1History1.1Wells Fargo History Museums1.2Key dates1.3Wachovia acquisition1.4Investment by US Treasury Department during 2008 financial crisis1.4.1History of Wells Fargo Securities1.5Environmental record2Operations and services2.1Community banking2.1.1Consumer lending2.1.2Wells Fargo private student loans2.1.3Equipment lending2.2Wealth and Investment Management2.2.1Wells Fargo Asset Management2.2.2Wells Fargo Securities2.3Cross-selling2.4International operations2.5Charter3Lawsuits, fines and controversies3.11981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal3.2Higher costs charged to African-American and Hispanic borrowers3.3Failure to monitor suspected money laundering3.4Overdraft fees3.5Settlement and fines regarding mortgage servicing practices3.6SEC fine due to inadequate risk disclosures3.7Lawsuit by FHA over loan underwriting3.8Lawsuit due to premium inflation on forced place insurance3.9Lawsuit regarding excessive overdraft fees3.102015 Violation of New York credit card laws3.11Executive compensation3.12Tax avoidance and lobbying3.13Prison industry investment3.14SEC settlement for insider trading case3.15Wells Fargo account fraud scandal3.16Racketeering lawsuit for mortgage appraisal overcharges3.17Dakota Access Pipeline investment3.18Failure to comply with document security requirements3.19Connections to the gun industry and NRA3.20Discrimination against female workers3.21Auto insurance4CEO-to-worker pay ratio5See also6Notes7References8External linksHistory[edit]Main article: History of Wells FargoWells Fargo History Museums[edit]The company operates 12 museums, most known as a Wells Fargo History Museum,[25]in its corporate buildings inCharlotte, North Carolina, Denver, Colorado, Des Moines, Iowa, Los Angeles, California, Minneapolis, Minnesota,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Phoenix, Arizona, Portland, Oregon, Sacramento, California and San Francisco, California. Displays include original stagecoaches, photographs, gold nuggets and mining artifacts, the Pony Express, telegraphequipment and historic bank artifacts. The company also operates a museum about company history in the Pony Express Terminal in Old Sacramento State Historic Park in Sacramento, California, which was the company's second office,[26]and the Wells Fargo History Museum in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park in San Diego, California.[27]Wells Fargo operates the Alaska Heritage Museum in Anchorage, Alaska, which features a large collection of Alaskan Native artifacts, ivory carvings and baskets, fine art by Alaskan artists, and displays about Wells Fargo history in the Alaskan Gold Rush era.[28]Key dates[edit]A late 19th Century Wells Fargo Bank in Apache Junction, Arizona1879 Wells Fargo Stagecoach on exhibit in the Wells Fargo Museum in PhoenixThe Wells Fargo Stage Stop built in 1872 in Black Canyon City, ArizonaWells Fargo bank in Chinatown,Houston, TexasA remodeled Wells Fargo bank inFort Worth, TexasWells Fargo in Laredo, Texas1852: Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the two founders of American Express, formed Wells Fargo & Company to provide express and banking services to California.1860: Wells Fargo gained control of Butterfield Overland Mail Company, leading to operation of the western portion of the Pony Express.1866: "Grand consolidation" united Wells Fargo, Holladay, and Overland Mail stage lines under the Wells Fargo name.1905: Wells Fargo separated its banking and express operations; Wells Fargo's bank was merged with the Nevada National Bank to form the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank.1918: As a wartime measure, the US Federal Government nationalized Wells Fargo's express franchise into a federal agency known as the US Railway Express Agency. The US Federal Government took control of the express company. The bank began rebuilding but with a focus on commercial markets. After the war, REA was privatized and continued service until 1975.1923: Wells Fargo Nevada merged with the Union Trust Company to form the Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Company.1929: Northwest Bancorporation was formed as a banking association.1954: Wells Fargo & Union Trust shortened its name to Wells Fargo Bank.1960: Wells Fargo merged with American Trust Company to form the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company.1962: Wells Fargo American Trust again shortened its name to Wells Fargo Bank.1968: Wells Fargo converted to a federal banking charter, becoming Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Wells Fargo merged with Henry Trione's Sonoma Mortgage in a $10.8 million stock transfer, making Trione the largest shareholder in Wells Fargo until Warren Buffett and Walter Annenberg later surpassed him.[29]1969: Wells Fargo & Company holding company was formed, with Wells Fargo Bank as its main subsidiary.1982: Northwest Bancorporation acquired consumer finance firm Dial Finance which is renamed Norwest Financial Service the following year.1983: Northwest Bancorporation was renamed Norwest Corporation.1983: White Eagle, largest US bank heist to date took place at a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut.1986: Wells Fargo acquired Crocker National Corporation from Midland Bank.1987: Wells Fargo acquired the personal trust business of Bank of America.1988: Wells Fargo acquired Barclays Bank of California from Barclays plc.[30]1995: Wells Fargo became the first major US financial services firm to offer Internet banking.1996: Wells Fargo acquired First Interstate Bancorp for US$11.6 billion.[31]1998: Wells Fargo Bank was acquired by Norwest Corporation of Minneapolis.[32](Norwest was the surviving company; however, it chose to continue business under the more well-known Wells Fargo name.)2000: Wells Fargo Bank acquired National Bank of Alaska.[33]2000: Wells Fargo acquired First Security Corporation.[34]2001: Wells Fargo acquired H.D. Vest Financial Services for US$128 million, but sold it in 2015 for US$580 million.[35]2007: Wells Fargo acquired CIT's construction unit.[36]2007: Wells Fargo acquired Placer Sierra Bank.2007: Wells Fargo acquired Greater Bay Bancorp, which had US$7.4 billion in assets, in a US$1.5 billion transaction.[37][38]2008: Wells Fargo acquired United Bancorporation of Wyoming.[39]2008: Wells Fargo acquired Century Bancshares of Texas.[40]2008: Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia Corporation.2009: Wells Fargo acquired North Coast Surety Insurance Services.[41]2012: Wells Fargo acquired Merlin Securities.[42][43]2012: Wells Fargo acquired stake in The Rock Creek Group LP.2019: CEO Tim Sloan resigns causing stock to jump and leaves General Counsel Allen Parker as Interim CEOWachovia acquisition[edit]A former Wachovia branch converted to Wells Fargo in the fall of 2011 in Durham, North CarolinaOn October 3, 2008, Wachovia agreed to be bought by Wells Fargo for about US$14.8 billion in an all-stock transaction. This news came four days after the USFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) made moves to have Citigroup buy Wachovia for US$2.1 billion. Citigroup protested Wachovia's agreement to sell itself to Wells Fargo and threatened legal action over the matter. However, the deal with Wells Fargo overwhelmingly won shareholder approval since it valued Wachovia at about seven times what Citigroup offered. To further ensure shareholder approval, Wachovia issued Wells Fargo preferred stock that holds 39.9% of the voting power in the company.[44]On October 4, 2008, a New York state judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the transaction from going forward while the situation was sorted out.[45]Citigroup alleged that they had an exclusivity agreement with Wachovia that barred Wachovia from negotiating with other potential buyers. The injunction was overturned late in the evening on October 5, 2008, by New York state appeals court.[46]Citigroup and Wells Fargo then entered into negotiations brokered by the FDIC to reach an amicable solution to the impasse. Those negotiations failed. Sources say that Citigroup was unwilling to take on more risk than the US$42 billion that would have been the cap under the previous FDIC-backed deal (with the FDIC incurring all losses over US$42 billion). Citigroup did not block the merger, but indicated they would seek damages of US$60 billion for breach of an alleged exclusivity agreement with Wachovia.[47]Investment by US Treasury Department during 2008 financial crisis[edit]On October 28, 2008, Wells Fargo was the recipient of US$25 billion of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act funds in the form of a preferred stock purchase by the US Treasury Department.[48][49]Tests by the US Federal Government revealed that Wells Fargo needed an additional US$13.7 billion in order to remain well capitalized if the economy were to deteriorate further under stress test scenarios. On May 11, 2009, Wells Fargo announced an additional stock offering which was completed on May 13, 2009, raising US$8.6 billion in capital. The remaining US$4.9 billion in capital was planned to be raised through earnings. On Dec. 23, 2009, Wells Fargo redeemed the US$25 billion of preferred stock issued to the US Treasury. As part of the redemption of the preferred stock, Wells Fargo also paid accrued dividends of US$131.9 million, bringing the total dividends paid to US$1.441 billion since the preferred stock was issued in October 2008.[50]History of Wells Fargo Securities[edit]Wells Fargo Securities was established in 2009 to house Wells Fargo's capital markets group which it obtained during the Wachovia acquisition. Prior to that point, Wells Fargo had little to no participation in investment banking activities, though Wachovia had a well established investment banking practice which it operated under the Wachovia Securities banner.Wachovia's institutional capital markets and investment banking business arose from the merger of Wachovia and First Union. First Union had bought Bowles Hollowell Connor & Co. on April 30, 1998 adding to its merger and acquisition, high yield, leveraged finance, equity underwriting, private placement, loan syndication, risk management, and public financecapabilities.[51]Legacy components of Wells Fargo Securities include Wachovia Securities, Bowles Hollowell Connor & Co., Barrington Associates, Halsey, Stuart & Co., Leopold Cahn & Co., Bache & Co.. Prudential Securities, A.G. Edwards, Inc. and the investment banking arm of Citadel LLC.[52]Duke Energy Center in Charlotte, North Carolina home of Wells Fargo Securities[53]Environmental record[edit]In 2009, Wells Fargo ranked #1 among banks and insurance companies, and #13 overall, inNewsweek Magazine's inaugural "Green Rankings" of the country's 500 largest companies.[54]In 2013, the company was recognized by the EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership as a Climate Leadership Award winner, in the category "Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Setting Certificate)"; this recognition was for the company's aim to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions from its US operations by 35% by 2020 versus 2008 levels.[55]As of 2013, Wells Fargo had provided more than US$6 billion in financing for environmentally beneficial business opportunities, including supporting 185 commercial-scale solar photovoltaic projects and 27 utility-scale wind projects nationwide.[56][better source needed]Wells Fargo has launched what it believes to be the first blog among its industry peers to report on its environmental stewardship and to solicit feedback and ideas from its stakeholders.[57][58]We want to be as open and clear as possible about our environmental efforts – both our accomplishments and challenges – and share our experiences, ideas and thoughts as we work to integrate environmental responsibility into everything we do," said Mary Wenzel, director of Environmental Affairs. "We also want to hear and learn from our customers. By working together, we can do even more to protect and preserve natural resources for future generations.—Mary Wenzel, director of Environmental Affairs, Wells Fargo, 2010 press releaseOperations and services[edit]Map of Wells Fargo branches in August 2015Wells Fargo delineates three different business segments when reporting results:Community Banking; Wholesale Banking; and Wealth, Brokerage and Retirement.Community banking[edit]The Community Banking segment includes Regional Banking, Diversified Products, and Consumer Deposits groups, as well as Wells Fargo Customer Connection (formerly Wells Fargo Phone Bank, Wachovia Direct Access, the National Business Banking Center, and Credit Card Customer Service). Wells Fargo also has around 2,000 stand-alone mortgage branches throughout the country.[59]There are mini-branches located inside of other buildings, which are almost exclusively grocery stores, that usually contain ATMs, basicteller services, and, space permitting, an office for private meetings with customers.[60]In March 2017, Wells Fargo announced a plan to offer smartphone-based transactions with mobile wallets including Wells Fargo Wallet, Android Pay and Samsung Pay.[61]Consumer lending[edit]As of Q3 2011, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage was the largest retail mortgage lender in the United States, originating one out of every four home loans.[62]Wells Fargo services US$1.8 trillion in home mortgages, the second largest servicing portfolio in the US[63]It was reported in 2012 Wells Fargo reached 30% market share for US mortgages, however, the then-CEO John Stumpf had said the numbers were misleading because about half of that share represented the aggregation of smaller loans that were then sold on in the secondary market. In 2013, its share was closer to 22%; of which eight percentage points was aggregation.[64]Wells Fargo private student loans[edit]Wells Fargo private student loans are available to students to pay for college expenses, such as tuition, books, computers, or housing.[65]Loans are available for undergraduate, career and community colleges, graduate school, law school and medical school. Wells Fargo also provides private student loan consolidation and student loans for parents.[citation needed]Equipment lending[edit]Wells Fargo has various divisions that finance and lease equipment to different types of companies.[66][citation needed]One venture is Wells Fargo Rail, which in 2015 agreed to the purchase of GE Capital Rail Services and merged in with First Union Rail.[67]In late 2015, it was announced that Wells Fargo would buy three GE units focused on business loans equipment financing.[68]Wealth and Investment Management[edit]Wells Fargo Advisors headquarters in St. Louis, MissouriWells Fargo offers investment products through its subsidiaries, Wells Fargo Investments, LLC and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, as well as through national broker/dealer firms. The company also serves high-net-worth individuals through its private bank and family wealthgroup.The logo for Wells Fargo AdvisorsWells Fargo Advisors is the brokerage subsidiary of Wells Fargo, located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the third largest brokerage firm in the United States as of the third quarter of 2010 with US$1.1 trillion retail client assets under management.[7]Wells Fargo Advisors was known as Wachovia Securities until May 1, 2009, when it legally changed names following the Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia Corporation.In September 2018, Wells Fargo announced to cut 26,450 jobs by 2020 to reduce costs by US$4 billion.[69]Wells Fargo Asset Management[edit]Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLCTypeSubsidiaryIndustryMutual fundsHeadquartersKansas City, MissouriArea servedWorldwideWebsitewellsfargofunds.comWells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) is the trade name for the mutual funddivision of Wells Fargo & Co. Mutual funds are offered under the Wells Fargo Advantage Funds brand name.Wells Fargo Securities[edit]Wells Fargo Securities, LLCTypeSubsidiaryIndustryInvestment BankingHeadquartersCharlotte, North CarolinaArea servedWorldwideWebsitewww.wellsfargo.com/com/securities/The Seagram Building: Home of Wells Fargo Securities' New York offices and trading floorsWells Fargo Securities (WFS) is the investment banking division of Wells Fargo & Co. The size and financial performance of this group is not disclosed publicly, but analysts believe the investment banking group houses approximately 4,500 employees and generates between US$3 and US$4 billion per year in investment banking revenue. By comparison, two of Wells Fargo's largest competitors, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chasegenerated approximately US$5.5 billion and US$6 billion respectively in 2011 (not including sales and trading revenue).[70]WFS headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina, with other US offices in New York, Minneapolis, Boston, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with international offices in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo.Cross-selling[edit]A key part of Wells Fargo's business strategy is cross-selling, the practice of encouraging existing customers to buy additional banking products.[71]Customers inquiring about their checking account balance may be pitched mortgage deals and mortgage holders may be pitched credit card offers in an attempt to increase the customer's profitability to the bank.[72][73]Other banks have attempted to emulate Wells Fargo's cross-selling practices (described byThe Wall Street Journal as a hard sell technique);[72]Forbes magazine describes Wells Fargo as "better than anyone" at the practice.[73]International operations[edit]Wells Fargo has banking services throughout the world, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo,Toronto.[74][75]They operate back-offices in India and the Philippines with more than 3,000 staff.[76]Charter[edit]Wells Fargo operates under Charter #1, the first national bank charter issued in the United States. This charter was issued to First National Bank of Philadelphia on June 20, 1863, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.[77]Traditionally, acquiring banks assume the earliest issued charter number. Thus, the first charter passed from First National Bank of Philadelphia to Wells Fargo through its 2008 acquisition of Wachovia, which had inherited it through one of its many acquisitions.Lawsuits, fines and controversies[edit]A Wells Fargo branch in Logan, Utah1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal[edit]In 1981, it was discovered that a Wells Fargo assistant operations officer, Lloyd Benjamin "Ben" Lewis, had perpetrated one of the largest embezzlements in history, through its Beverly Drive branch. During 1978 - 1981, Lewis had successfully written phony debit and credit receipts to benefit boxing promoters Harold J. Smith (né Ross Eugene Fields) and Sam "Sammie" Marshall, chairman and president, respectively, of Muhammed Ali Professional Sports, Inc. (MAPS), of which Lewis was also listed as a director; Marshall, too, was a former employee of the same Wells Fargo branch as Lewis. In excess of US$300,000 was paid to Lewis, who pled guilty to embezzlement andconspiracy charges in 1981, and testified against his co-conspirators for a reduced five-year sentence.[78](Boxer Muhammed Ali had received a fee for the use of his name, and had no other involvement with the organization.[79])Higher costs charged to African-American and Hispanic borrowers[edit]Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit against Wells Fargo on July 31, 2009, alleging that the bank steers African Americans and Hispanics into high-cost subprime loans. A Wells Fargo spokesman responded that "The policies, systems, and controls we have in place – including in Illinois – ensure race is not a factor..."[80]An affidavit filed in the case stated that loan officers had referred to black mortgage-seekers as "mud people," and the subprime loans as "ghetto loans."[81]According to Beth Jacobson, a loan officer at Wells Fargo interviewed for a report in The New York Times, "We just went right after them. Wells Fargo mortgage had an emerging-markets unit that specifically targeted black churches, because it figured church leaders had a lot of influence and could convince congregants to take out subprime loans." The report goes on to present data from the city of Baltimore, where "more than half the properties subject to foreclosure on a Wells Fargo loan from 2005 to 2008 now stand vacant. And 71 percent of those are in predominantly black neighborhoods."[82]Wells Fargo agreed to pay US$125 million to subprime borrowers and US$50 million in direct down payment assistance in certain areas, for a total of US$175 million.[83][84]Failure to monitor suspected money laundering[edit]In a March 2010 agreement with US federal prosecutors, Wells Fargo acknowledged that between 2004 and 2007 Wachoviahad failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers, including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of cocaine into Mexico.[85]Overdraft fees[edit]In August 2010, Wells Fargo was fined by US District Court judge William Alsup for overdraft practices designed to "gouge" consumers and "profiteer" at their expense, and for misleading consumers about how the bank processed transactions and assessed overdraft fees.[86][87][88]Settlement and fines regarding mortgage servicing practices[edit]On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citi,JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a settlement with the US Federal Government and 49 states.[89]The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about US$26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in direct payments to the federal and state governments. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in US history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.[90]The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately.On April 5, 2012, a federal judge ordered Wells Fargo to pay US$3.1 million in punitive damages over a single loan, one of the largest fines for a bank ever for mortgaging service misconduct.[91]Elizabeth Magner, a federal bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana, cited the bank's behavior as "highly reprehensible",[92]stating that Wells Fargo has taken advantage of borrowers who rely on the bank's accurate calculations. She went on to add, "perhaps more disturbing is Wells Fargo's refusal to voluntarily correct its errors. It prefers to rely on the ignorance of borrowers or their inability to fund a challenge to its demands, rather than voluntarily relinquish gains obtained through improper accounting methods."[93]SEC fine due to inadequate risk disclosures[edit]On August 14, 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay around US$6.5 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) charges that in 2007 it sold risky mortgage-backed securities without fully realizing their dangers.[94][95]Lawsuit by FHA over loan underwriting[edit]On October 9, 2012, the US Federal Government sued the bank under the False Claims Act at the federal court inManhattan, New York. The suit alleges that Wells Fargo defrauded the US Federal Housing Administration (FHA) over the past ten years, underwriting over 100,000 FHA backed loans when over half did not qualify for the program. This suit is the third allegation levied against Wells Fargo in 2012.[96]In October 2012, Wells Fargo was sued by United States Attorney Preet Bharara over questionable mortgage deals.[97]Lawsuit due to premium inflation on forced place insurance[edit]In April 2013, Wells Fargo settled a suit with 24,000 Florida homeowners alongside insurer QBE, in which Wells Fargo was accused of inflating premiums on forced-place insurance.[98]Lawsuit regarding excessive overdraft fees[edit]In May 2013, Wells Fargo paid US$203 million to settle class-action litigation accusing the bank of imposing excessiveoverdraft fees on checking-account customers. Also in May, the New York attorney-general, Eric Schneiderman, announced a lawsuit against Wells Fargo over alleged violations of the national mortgage settlement, a US$25 billion deal struck between 49 state attorneys and the five-largest mortgage servicers in the US. Schneidermann claimed Wells Fargo had violated rules over giving fair and timely serving.[64]2015 Violation of New York credit card laws[edit]In February 2015, Wells Fargo agreed to pay US$4 million for violations where an affiliate took interest in the homes of borrowers in exchange for opening credit card accounts for the homeowners. This is illegal according to New York credit card laws. There was a US$2 million penalty with the other US$2 million going towards restitution to customers.[99]Executive compensation[edit]With CEO John Stumpf being paid 473 times more than the median employee, Wells Fargo ranks number 33 among the S&P 500 companies for CEO—employee pay inequality. In October 2014, a Wells Fargo employee earning US$15 per hour emailed the CEO—copying 200,000 other employees—asking that all employees be given a US$10,000 per year raise taken from a portion of annual corporate profits to address wage stagnation and income inequality. After being contacted by the media, Wells Fargo responded that all employees receive "market competitive" pay and benefits significantly above US federal minimums.[100][101]Tax avoidance and lobbying[edit]In December 2011, the non-partisan organization Public Campaign criticized Wells Fargo for spending US$11 million onlobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008–2010, instead getting US$681 million in tax rebates, despite making a profit of US$49 billion, laying off 6,385 workers since 2008, and increasing executive pay by 180% to US$49.8 million in 2010 for its top five executives.[102]As of 2014 however, at an effective tax rate of 31.2% of its income, Wells Fargo is the fourth-largest payer of corporation tax in the US.[103]Prison industry investment[edit]Main article: Prison–industrial complexThe GEO Group, Inc., a multi-national provider of for-profit private prisons, received investments made by Wells Fargo mutual funds on behalf of clients, not investments made by Wells Fargo and Company, according to company statements.[104]By March 2012, its stake had grown to more than 4.4 million shares worth US$86.7 million.[105]As of November, 2012, the latest SEC filings reveal that Wells Fargo has divested 33% of its dispositive holdings of GEO's stock, which reduces Wells Fargo's holdings to 4.98% of Geo Group's common stock. By reducing its holdings to less than 5%, Wells Fargo will no longer be required to disclose some financial dealings with GEO.[106]While a coalition of organizations, National People's Action Campaign, have seen some success in pressuring Wells Fargo to divest from private prison companies like GEO Group, the company continues to make such investments.[107]SEC settlement for insider trading case[edit]In 2015, an analyst at Wells Fargo settled an insider trading case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The former employee was charged with insider trading alongside an ex-Wells Fargo trader.[108]Sadis & Goldberg obtained a settlement that permitted the client to continue in securities industry, while neither admitting nor denying one charge of negligence-based § 17(a)(3) claim, and paying a US$75,000 civil penalty[109]Wells Fargo account fraud scandal[edit]Main article: Wells Fargo account fraud scandalIn September 2016, Wells Fargo was issued a combined total of US$185 million in fines for creating over 1.5 million checking and savings accounts and 500,000 credit cards that its customers never authorized. The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued US$100 million in fines, the largest in the agency's five-year history, along with US$50 million in fines from the City and County of Los Angeles, and US$35 million in fines from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.[110]The scandal was caused by an incentive-compensation program for employees to create new accounts. It led to the firing of nearly 5,300 employees and US$5 million being set aside for customer refunds on fees for accounts the customers never wanted.[111]Carrie Tolstedt, who headed the department, retired in July 2016 and received US$124.6 million in stock, options, and restricted Wells Fargo shares as a retirement package.[112][113]On October 12, 2016, John Stumpf, the then Chairman and CEO, announced that he would be retiring amidst the controversies involving his company. It was announced by Wells Fargo that President and Chief Operating Officer Timothy J. Sloan would succeed, effective immediately. Following the scandal, applications for credit cards and checking accounts at the bank plummeted.[114]In response to the event, the Better Business Bureau dropped accreditation of the bank,[115]S&P Global Ratings lowered its outlook for Wells Fargo from stable to negative,[116]and several states and cities across the US ended business relations with the company.[117]An investigation by the Wells Fargo board of directors, the report of which was released in April 2017, primarily blamed Stumpf, whom it said had not responded to evidence of wrongdoing in the consumer services division, and Tolstedt, who was said to have knowingly set impossible sales goals and refused to respond when subordinates disagreed with them.[118]The board chose to use a clawback clause in the retirement contracts of Stumpf and Tolstedt to recover US$75 million worth of cash and stock from the former executives.[118]Racketeering lawsuit for mortgage appraisal overcharges[edit]In November 2016, Wells Fargo agreed to pay US$50 million to settle a racketeering lawsuit in which the bank was accused of overcharging hundreds of thousands of homeowners for appraisals ordered after they defaulted on their mortgage loans. While banks are allowed to charge homeowners for such appraisals, Wells Fargo frequently charged homeowners US$95 to US$125 on appraisals for which the bank had been charged US$50 or less. The plaintiffs had sought triple damages under the U S Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act on grounds that sending invoices and statements with fraudulently concealed fees constituted mail and wire fraud sufficient to allege racketeering.[119]Dakota Access Pipeline investment[edit]Wells Fargo is a lender on the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile-long (1,886 km) underground oil pipeline transportsystem in North Dakota. The pipeline has been controversial regarding its potential impact on the environment.[120]In February 2017, Seattle, Washington's city council unanimously voted to not renew its contract with Wells Fargo "in a move that cites the bank's role as a lender to the Dakota Access Pipeline project as well as its "creation of millions of bogus accounts." and saying the bidding process for its next banking partner will involve "social responsibility." The City Council ofDavis, California, took a similar action voting unanimously to find a new bank to handle its accounts by the end of 2017.[121]Failure to comply with document security requirements[edit]In December 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Wells Fargo US$5.5 million for failing to store electronic documents in a "write once, read many" format, which makes it impossible to alter or destroy records after they are written.[122]Connections to the gun industry and NRA[edit]Wells Fargo is the top banker for US gun makers and the National Rifle Association (NRA). From December 2012 through February 2018 it reportedly helped two of the biggest firearms and ammunition companies obtain US$431.1 million in loans and bonds. It also created a US$28-million line of credit for the NRA and operates the organization's primary accounts.[123]In a March 2018 statement Wells Fargo said, "Any solutions on how to address this epidemic will be complicated. This is why our company believes the best way to make progress on these issues is through the political and legislative process. ... We plan to engage our customers that legally manufacture firearms and other stakeholders on what we can do together to promote better gun safety for our communities."[123]Wells Fargo's CEO subsequently said that the bank would provide its gun clients with feedback from employees and investors.[124]Discrimination against female workers[edit]Further information: Glass ceilingIn June 2018, about a dozen female Wells Fargo executives from the wealth management division met in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss the minimal presence of women occupying senior roles within the company. The meeting, dubbed "the meeting of 12", represented the majority of the regional managing directors, of which 12 out of 45 are women.[125]Wells Fargo had previously been investigating reports of gender bias in the division in the months leading up to the meeting.[126]The women reported that they had been turned down for top jobs despite their qualifications, and instead the roles were occupied by men.[126]There were also complaints against company president Jay Welker, who is also the head of the Wells Fargo wealth management division, due to his sexist statements regarding female employees. The female workers claimed that he called them "girls" and said that they "should be at home taking care of their children."[126]Auto insurance[edit]On June 10, 2019, Wells Fargo settled a lawsuit for $ 385 million that was filed in 2017 concerning their customers andNational General Insurance.[127]CEO-to-worker pay ratio[edit]Pursuant to Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, publicly traded companies are required to disclose (1) the median total annual compensation of all employees other than the CEO and (2) the ratio of the CEO’s annual total compensation to that of the median employee.[128]Total 2018 compensation for Timothy J. Sloan, CEO, was $18,426,734, and total compensation for the median employee was estimated to be $65,191. The resulting pay ratio was determined to be 283:1.[129]See also[edit]San Francisco Bay Area portalCompanies portalBanks portalList of Wells Fargo directorsList of Wells Fargo presidentsWells Fargo ArenaWells Fargo Center