Note 11: Legal Actions

The following supplements our discussion of certain matters previously reported in Note 15 (Legal Actions) to Financial Statements in our 2014 Form 10-K and Note 11 (Legal Actions) to Financial Statements in our 2015 first quarter Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for events occurring during second quarter 2015.

INTERCHANGE LITIGATION Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo & Company, Wachovia Bank, N.A. and Wachovia Corporation are named as defendants, separately or in combination, in putative class actions filed on behalf of a plaintiff class of merchants and in individual actions brought by individual merchants with regard to the interchange fees associated with Visa and MasterCard payment card transactions. These actions have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Visa, MasterCard and several banks and bank holding companies are named as defendants in various of these actions. The amended and consolidated complaint asserts claims against defendants based on alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws and seeks damages, as well as injunctive relief. Plaintiff merchants allege that Visa, MasterCard and payment card issuing banks unlawfully colluded to set interchange rates. Plaintiffs also allege that enforcement of certain Visa and MasterCard rules and alleged tying and bundling of services offered to merchants are anticompetitive. Wells Fargo and Wachovia, along with other defendants and entities, are parties to Loss and Judgment Sharing Agreements, which provide that they, along with other entities, will share, based on a formula, in any losses from the Interchange Litigation. On July 13, 2012, Visa, MasterCard and the financial institution defendants, including Wells Fargo, signed a memorandum of understanding with plaintiff merchants to resolve the consolidated class actions and reached a separate settlement in principle of the consolidated individual actions. The proposed settlement payments by all defendants in the consolidated class and individual actions total approximately $6.6 billion. The class settlement also provides for the distribution to class merchants of 10 basis points of default interchange across all credit rate categories for a period of eight consecutive months. The District Court granted final approval of the settlement, which has been appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by settlement objector merchants. Other merchants have opted out of the settlement and are pursuing several individual actions.

SECURITIES LENDING LITIGATION Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. was involved in four separate actions brought by securities lending customers of Wells Fargo and Wachovia Bank in various courts. In general, each of the cases alleges losses based on claims that Wells Fargo violated fiduciary and contractual duties in its investment of collateral for loaned securities. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota, et al., v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. resulted in verdicts dismissing the claims against Wells Fargo. Plaintiffs have appealed the verdicts. The remaining cases have been resolved.

OUTLOOK When establishing a liability for contingent litigation losses, the Company determines a range of potential losses for each matter that is both probable and estimable, and records the amount it considers to be the best estimate within the range. The high end of the range of reasonably possible potential litigation losses in excess of the Company’s liability for probable and estimable losses was approximately $1.4 billion as of June 30, 2015. For these matters and others where an unfavorable outcome is reasonably possible but not probable, there may be a range of possible losses in excess of the established liability that cannot be estimated. Based on information currently available, advice of counsel, available insurance coverage and established reserves, Wells Fargo believes that the eventual outcome of the actions against Wells Fargo and/or its subsidiaries, including the matters described above, will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on Wells Fargo’s consolidated financial position. However, in the event of unexpected future developments, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of those matters, if unfavorable, may be material to Wells Fargo’s results of operations for any particular period.