Bank regulator faults itself for missing Wells Fargo issues

The nation's big bank regulator is faulting itself for failing to address the problems at Wells Fargo before it was too late.

The inspector general at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Wednesday the Comptroller's examiners saw sales problems at Wells Fargo as early as 2010.

According to the OCC's report, examiners met with Carrie Tolstedt, the executive in charge of Wells Fargo's consumer banking operations, to discuss 700 whistleblower complaints regarding sales practices. Despite knowing about these complaints and other issues, the OCC declined to investigate further. It also did not look into risks that could come from compensation programs like those at Wells.

The OCC, along with other authorities, fined Wells Fargo $185 million for opening up to 2 million accounts without getting customers' permission.