Wells Fargo Sees `Possible’ Legal Losses Rising by $500 Million

Wells Fargo & Co., beset by a wave of government probes into suspected customer abuses, boosted an estimate for potential legal losses by $500 million.

The company said it might have to spend as much as $2.7 billion more than what it already had set aside by the end of December to resolve investigations and other legal claims -- increasing a $2.2 billion estimate from the end of September. The bank disclosed the figure for additional “reasonably possible” legal losses -- essentially a worst-case scenario -- in a regulatory filing on Feb. 27.

The increase “was due to a variety ...