Wells Fargo annual meeting besieged by hecklers

C. Allen Parker was interrupted more than a dozen times during Wells Fargo & Co.'s annual meeting by activists who called executives "frauds" and "criminals" and demanded the interim chief executive officer turn the scandal-plagued bank around. "Frauds, all of you," one heckler shouted as Mr. Parker tried to deliver his opening remarks in Dallas on Tuesday. "Wells Fargo, you cannot be trusted," yelled another. "One of the wonderful things about shareholder democracy in this country is that we have meetings like this," Mr. Parker said, imploring the activists to hold their remarks until the time set for investor comments later in the meeting. Wells Fargo's string of scandals began with the revelation that employees opened millions of potentially fake accounts to meet sales goals. Tim Sloan stepped down as CEO last month under mounting pressure from regulators, politicians and investors. Mr. Parker is leading the company while it searches for a new top executive. Wells Fargo's shareholders have grappled with a change at the top twice since the fake-account scandal erupted in late 2016 and led to the exit of CEO John Stumpf. After Mr. Sloan, a three-decade insider, rose to the top job, issues continued to emerge across business lines. Regulators indicated repeatedly that the San Francisco-based bank hasn't done enough to clean things up. Mr. Sloan's successor may still inherit 14 outstanding consent orders and more than a dozen ongoing investigations. Chair Betsy Duke said at Tuesday's meeting that the search for a new CEO is well underway, and that the bank won't be giving any more updates on its progress until a decision is made. Board Accountability Shareholders and their representatives, both during their interruptions of Mr. Parker's remarks and the portion of the meeting reserved for investor comments, criticized Wells Fargo over the bank's sales-practice scandals and board accountability. One attendee said she's a former employee and left Wells Fargo over corruption at the bank. Mr. Parker responded that changes have been made at Wells Fargo since the employee left "to make sure inappropriate things do not occur" at the bank. Among the speakers was activist Bruce Marks, who, during the annual meeting two years ago, was escorted out by security after shouting without a microphone, demanding directors explain what they knew about abuses at the bank. On Tuesday, he asked for Wells Fargo's commitment to discuss a program to support auto consumers. Mr. Parker said he'd be happy to talk about the issue with him. And in a rare moment of levity, another activist yelled that Mr. Marks should become the next Wells Fargo CEO, eliciting laughs from attendees.