Wells Fargo CEO: Fed punishment won't stop loan growth

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said Monday the bank is open for business and will keep expanding loans after the Federal Reserve restricted its assets and the bank said it's removing four members from its board.

“Being able to provide credit to our customers is not only critical for them but it’s critical for economic growth,”  he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview on “Mornings with Maria.” “And then we’ll continue to be able to take deposits from most of our customers.”

The Fed moved on Friday to restrict the bank’s assets as punishment for widespread consumer abuses and other compliance failures. Wells Fargo has acknowledged that employees opened more than 3 million phony accounts to meet sales quotas. It ended up paying $185 million to regulators and settled a class-action suit for $142 million.

Wells Fargo also admitted signing up hundreds of thousands of auto loan customers for insurance they didn’t need.

The action against Wells Fargo was announced on Yellen’s last day as Fed chair. She said regulators can’t tolerate persistent misconduct by a bank.

Sloan said Monday that the Fed had found nothing new and that Wells Fargo is addressing its problems.

“They were talking about history,” Sloan said.  “We agree that we made mistakes, we’re fixing those mistakes, or we fixed them.”