Notice too how the ones who got fired here were the ones who were pressured into doing it (this isn't something where upper management was totally unaware of it). So you have these people on the bottom rung being effectively forced (you want to keep your job right?) into this bullshit behavior and when the regulators find out about it, does upper management get fired? No, 5000+ of their reports do. Management, always finding a way to get others to do the dirty work for them whilst reducing direct risk and accountability yet reaping most of the gains.
My sister used to work for WellsFargo. She told me how they used to hold regular meetings instructing their employees in the art of pressuring clients into opening various accounts and utilizing various services that they didn't need. I used to bank with them until they gave me a pre-paid credit card, practically against my will, that cost me $200.00 in activation fees before I could even begin using the thing. Now I use Chase. Never had a problem with them. They've never tried to convince me to do anything at all. I use them as savings and transfer money to and from my brokerage account. That's it. When I was with WellsFargo it was like walking on to a used car lot every time I went in there. Quite ridiculous, really.
The banks should have been broken up into many pieces following 2008...Realistically, that would just return the industry to what it was 10 years prior (anyone remember all of the merger's from the 1990's onwards)...
How do you do that without people figuring out? Wouldn't they get a notification for having a new account? And notifiations about fees?
Of course...just a quick look at that good old credit history would show accounts being opened under your name....good to check it at least once a month to see if anyone is messing with your credit because now a days it seems it happens to everyone.
It's unfortunate, and I'm no genius...but, people are generally not very bright with attention spans of flys. Over time, I'm sure the accumulation of complaints added up, and the attorney's jumped in and built a case.
Key phrase "over time"...i.e. the concentration into a few mega-banks ensures plenty of lobbyist power to re-write the laws to their own benefit...IOW, "regulatory capture" is a given and the egregious behavior is only acted upon following years of this type of abuse.