ML-Implode News - Buffett's Deafening Silence on Wells Fargo Mass-Fraud

Almost 25 years to the day [since the Salomon Brothers bond scandal], a new scandal started rocking another bank that boasts Berkshire as its main shareholder: Wells Fargo. While the wheels haven't quite come off completely, it's safe to say the lug nuts loosened a bit after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it was fining the bank because employees ginned up 2Â million fake accounts to meet sales quotas.Â
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The market has been topsy-turvy over the past few days, so it's hard to say exactly how much damage has been done to Wells Fargo, but it's clear some is being done. The shares are down more than 6 percent in three days, wiping out about $15 billion in market value and causing Wells Fargo to cede its bragging rights as the nation's biggest bank by market capitalization to JPMorgan Chase. About $1.5 billion has been lopped off the value of Berkshire's 10 percent stake, and Berkshire's own shares are down about 2.5 percent over the same period.
... the relationship with Wells Fargo is complicated for Buffett for other reasons: Agencies including the Fed are examining whether legal limits are being exceeded for how much a bank can lend to entities controlled by a large owner of its stock, as Jesse Hamilton reported last month.
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At age 86, does Buffett have it in him to make good on those words from a quarter-century ago: "lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless"? Or could he help assuage the turmoil with a few comments at one of his folksy steakhouse interviews?

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Buffett's Deafening Silence on Wells Fargo Mass-Fraud