Third Quarter Update 2015 Wells Fargo s perspective: Topics in the news We want all our stakeholders customers, communities, investors, and our team members to have the facts on where Wells Fargo stands on some key topics in the news. As we state in our Vision & Values, Wells Fargo is on a journey, and Every journey has a destination. To reach it, we have an ambitious vision which is the character of our company in action: We want to satisfy all our customers financial needs and help them succeed financially. What follows are additional facts as they relate to: Homeownership Continuing to lend Charging for our services Repaying TARP Too Big to Fail Paying taxes Immigration Policy Private student loans Political campaigns Compensating leaders Homeownership Wells Fargo Home Lending is the national leading originator and servicer of residential mortgages, funding and/or servicing one of every seven mortgage loans in the United States. We offer home loans to consumers with the help of more than 7,500 professional mortgage consultants in the country s largest mortgage network, including mortgage locations and bank branches, online, and via phone. We service 10.5 million loans for customers who either originated their loans with us or another home lender. Wells Fargo is also the nation s leading Renovation lender and the #1 lender to homebuyers who purchase newly constructed homes.
2 With more than 150 years of home lending experience, we understand the significant role homeownership plays in the lives of our customers and their communities. We have a long-term view of our business, growing it one customer at a time by making home loans achievable and sustainable. If a customer encounters financial challenges along the way, we will help explore the available options for achieving an affordable payment. We take these responsibilities very seriously because we believe that no financial product is more important to a family s financial security than a home mortgage. We rely on careful underwriting practices to qualify customers for loans in order to help make sure they succeed financially. A Wells Fargo survey showed that Americans still view homeownership as a dream come true and an achievement to be proud of. We are committed to helping customers make that dream a reality. WFHL has been profitable every year since 1990 as we have grown the business through a wide range of credit and rate cycles. We equip our home loan advisors to serve mortgage customers with a variety home financing options and we use safe and sound underwriting principles to properly evaluate each borrower s ability to repay. WFHL has been among the top 3 in rank for both mortgage originations and servicing every year since 1995. We are the only company that can make this claim. In 2014, the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation donated nearly $20 million in support of affordable housing initiatives serving low-and moderate-income households including for seniors, veterans, and families through neighborhood stabilization and community revitalization efforts. Our homeownership educational programs are helping thousands of customers get ready to buy their first home. Thousands of people have visited My FirstHome online, which helps first-time and ready-again buyers prepare for homeownership, with many of these consumers having the opportunity to enroll in My Home Roadmap, a free coaching program for people not yet prepared for homeownership. Wells Fargo has helped nearly 10.4 million homeowners get new low-rate loans, either to purchase a home or refinance their existing mortgage, since the beginning of 2009. Wells Fargo continues to help customers facing financial challenges. We have modified more than 1 million mortgage loans since and we have extended over $8.6 billion in principal forgiveness since 2009. We continue working to strengthen communities across America. Through LIFT programs, we invested $279 million in down-payment assistance, education and support for sustainable homeownership. LIFT programs have helped create more than 10,100 homeowners in 39 communities across the country since 2012. From 2013 through September 2015, Wells Fargo donated nearly 280 mortgage-free homes to military veterans and their families to help begin the process of rebuilding their lives. Continuing to lend Wells Fargo is committed to helping individuals succeed financially and businesses grow and thrive by continuing to prudently extend credit to creditworthy customers. We want to make every good loan we can, and we are devoted to fair and responsible lending practices.
3 Wells Fargo does business with 70 million customers, meeting a range of consumer credit needs including home lending, financing an education and buying a car. Wells Fargo has loaned more money to America s small businesses than any other bank for 13 consecutive years (2002-2014 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) government data). Wells Fargo approved more Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) loans and dollars for America s small businesses than any other lender in federal fiscal year 2015 (October 2014 September 2015, U.S. SBA data), and has been the No. 1 SBA lender in dollar volume for seven consecutive years. In 2014, Wells Fargo launched Wells Fargo Works for Small Business SM, a broad initiative to deliver resources, guidance and services to help more small businesses achieve financial success. We also announced a five-year goal to extend $100 billion in new lending to small businesses by 2018. In the first 15 months of the goal (January 2014-March 2015), we extended $22.6 billion in new loan commitments to small business owners (primarily with annual revenue less than $20 million). Wells Fargo helps business owners succeed financially by providing financial education resources, including WellsFargoWorks.com an enhanced online resource that offers useful financial guidance on topics such as building credit and managing growth to help business owners increase their knowledge and confidence. The site includes hundreds of feature stories, informational resources and videos, featuring national small business strategy experts and business owners sharing their experiences. In 2015, Wells Fargo introduced The Business Plan Center that features free, online tools to help small business owners create and update their business plans as the foundation for future success. Charging for our services Wells Fargo is firmly focused on helping customers succeed financially and continuing to offer products and services that provide value. There are some services for which we charge a fee. Fees are based on the type of account a customer has and the services that customer uses. To help customers avoid unexpected fees, at account opening we explain when fees may be charged, and when possible, how to qualify for a fee waiver. Information about fees is easily accessible online, and is written in a plain-language style that seeks to turn regulatory and legal language into terms and explanations that are more readily understood by customers. To help customers monitor their accounts, we also offer a number of timely alerts for eligible account transactions. These alerts give customers the status of their account activities at a glance, and can be a useful tool in avoiding unexpected fees. Still, many services we provide to our customers come at no extra charge, including access to more than 12,800 ATMs across the U.S., access to Online Banking, and personal financial management tools. Repaying TARP In fall 2008, Wells Fargo received $25 billion through the Troubled Asset Relief Program at the request of the federal government. We paid back all the money in December 2009, ahead of schedule with $1.4 billion in interest and supplied more than $640 billion in credit to consumers and businesses. We helped more than 400,000 households preserve their home ownership and continued to be America s top lender to small businesses.
4 Too Big to Fail There is much discussion in Washington and elsewhere about the size and scope of the nation s largest financial institutions and their ability to withstand another fiscal crisis. As a result, some policy makers are labeling the country s largest financial institutions as Too Big to Fail (TBTF). Wells Fargo believes that no bank should be considered Too Big to Fail and that taxpayer money should never again be used to support a failing bank. If a financial institution fails its customers, communities and shareholders, it should go through a bankruptcy-like process to wind down its business at no cost to the American taxpayer. Wells Fargo believes that we are not too big to fail, and that banks of all sizes play an important role in providing economic solutions across the country. We also believe that recent industry reforms have made our banking system stronger and safer. We do not need additional legislation aimed at big banks and there is no marketplace advantage for large banks. In fact, the additional regulations put into place since the financial crisis have made it more costly for big banks to operate. We need to give these proposed and existing regulations - such as higher capital and liquidity standards and semi-annual stress tests - a chance to work and, instead, focus our energies on economic growth. Now is the time to focus on the solution - a Great Recovery. We need growth strategies for our cities, states and country, and we will need a financial system that s safe, secure and fair to allow banks of all sizes to play a role in funding the recovery we all want. Paying taxes Wells Fargo is a responsible corporate citizen and believes that it has fulfilled its obligations to federal, state, and local communities where we serve our customers. Wells Fargo is one of the largest corporate taxpayers. Like other corporate and individual taxpayers, the amount of income taxes paid each year will vary based on the level of income subject to tax. Wells Fargo fulfills its tax obligations and is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen. Wells Fargo s income tax bill in 2014 totaled $7.9 billion. Of the $7.9 billion, $7.3 billion is U.S. federal corporate income taxes. $500 million is state income taxes, and the rest is foreign income tax. In addition to federal and state income taxes, Wells Fargo paid more than $2 billion last year in other taxes such as payroll taxes, property taxes, and transaction taxes. Wells Fargo s effective tax rate for 2014, or total tax expense divided by pre-tax income, was 30.9%.
5 Immigration policy Wells Fargo respects the importance of the ongoing debate on immigration reform. We believe the immigrant experience has strengthened our country and are hopeful that the President and Congress reach agreement on the path forward that addresses our nation s immigration policy. We strive to serve all of our customers who provide valid forms of identification, as required by law, through policies that conform to state and federal laws. We do not deny access to assets to deported customers, and we offer, at minimum, four ways to access accounts if a customer is outside the USA: ATM/Debit Card; Wells Fargo ExpressSend remittance services; online banking through wellsfargo.com and Wells Fargo Phone Bank SM support. Private student loans Wells Fargo has a relationship with one in every three households in the U.S. and one of the core needs of these households is paying for education. We are committed to being there to help our customers plan for and pay for this investment. When it comes to financing education, we encourage borrowers to look at all of their options--including grants, scholarships and loans from all sources--and make careful comparisons among all choices. If they determine a private student loan is right for them, Wells Fargo offers a variety of fixed-rate and variable-rate loans with interest rates that vary according to the product and in some cases are lower than federal loan rates. In addition, Wells Fargo provides a loan program that allows student borrowers to refinance their private education loans with Wells Fargo. Student borrowers can refinance a single loan or multiple loans, and the loans that are being refinanced can include private education loans held by Wells Fargo or other private loan lenders. This allows borrowers to simplify repayment by turning multiple loans into one and is designed to provide a lower monthly payment and/or a lower interest rate. Wells Fargo is committed to doing what is right for our customers and upholding sound underwriting practices. We approve applications where we believe the borrower has the ability to repay the loan according to its terms. At Wells Fargo, our private student loan default rates are significantly lower than the national average, with 98% of Wells Fargo private student loan customers current with their payments. For those customers who may experience financial hardship or distress, in 2014 Wells Fargo introduced its Private Student Loan Modification Program. Under the program, a customer s financial situation is reviewed on an individual case-by-case basis and if determined eligible for the program, Wells Fargo will lower the customer s interest rate or extend the terms of the loan to achieve a student loan payment that is determined to be affordable based on the customer s income level. We continuously review, evaluate and adjust our policies and processes in order to help our customers succeed financially. Political campaigns Wells Fargo does not use corporate funds to make any political contributions to candidate campaign committees, political parties, caucuses, or independent expenditure committees. The prohibition against using Wells Fargo corporate funds for electioneering activities includes, but is not limited to, groups organized under IRS Sections 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6), or 527. Our prohibition against corporate funds being used for political activity extends to those trade groups of which we are a member. We restrict these
6 organizations from using our membership dues for contributions to candidate committees, independent expenditure committees or other direct or indirect contributions to election campaigns. We are not members of any tax-exempt organization in the U.S. that is primarily organized to write, endorse and promote model legislation. Wells Fargo political action committees (PACs) are funded entirely through voluntary contributions by eligible team members. All Wells Fargo PACs report to the Federal Elections Committee and/or to state agencies, as required by state and federal law. We share a list of our contributions on our website under Campaign Finance and PACs. Compensating leaders Wells Fargo pays for performance that is aligned with customer and shareholder objectives. We promote a culture of risk management that avoids unnecessary or excessive risk taking; attracts and retains highly qualified leaders with competitive pay; and aligns our leaders interests with those of stockholders.