Wells Fargo CEO resigns from San Francisco Fed's advisory council

Executive under fire for problematic sales tactics

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co CEO John Stumpf, under fire over problematic sales tactics, resigned from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's advisory council on Thursday.

"John made a personal decision to resign as the Twelfth District's representative to the Federal Advisory Council. His top priority is leading Wells Fargo," Wells Fargo spokesman Mark Folk said in an email.

A spokesman for the San Francisco Fed declined to comment beyond a press release from the regulator announcing Stumpf's resignation.

The Federal Advisory Council has 12 banking industry representatives and ordinarily meets four times a year. Representatives typically serve three one-year terms. Stumpf's second term would have ended at the end of this year.

Maine Senator Angus King, a political independent, wrote a letter on Thursday to San Francisco Fed Chairman Roy Vallee asking him not to appoint Stumpf for a third one-year term. Four Senate Democrats also signed the letter.

Wells Fargo has fired some 5,300 employees for opening as many as two million accounts in customers' names without their authorization. On Sept. 8, a federal regulator and Los Angeles prosecutor announced a $190 million settlement with Wells.

Latest stories