Note 11: Legal Actions

The following supplements our discussion of certain matters previously reported in Note 15 (Legal Actions) to Financial Statements in our 2015 Form 10-K and Note 11 (Legal Actions) to Financial Statements in our 2016 first and second quarter Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for events occurring during third quarter 2016.

MORTGAGE RELATED REGULATORY INVESTIGATIONS Federal and state government agencies, including the United States Department of Justice, continue investigations or examinations of certain mortgage related practices of Wells Fargo and predecessor institutions. Wells Fargo, for itself and for predecessor institutions, has responded, and continues to respond, to requests from these agencies seeking information regarding the origination, underwriting and securitization of residential mortgages, including sub-prime mortgages. This includes discussions with various government agencies that are part of the RMBS Working Group of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in which potential theories of liability have been raised. Other financial institutions have entered into settlements with these agencies, the nature of which related to the specific activities of those financial institutions, including the imposition of significant financial penalties and remedial actions.

ORDER OF POSTING LITIGATION A series of putative class actions have been filed against Wachovia Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as well as many other banks, challenging the "high to low" order in which the banks post debit card transactions to consumer deposit accounts. There are currently several such cases pending against Wells Fargo Bank (including the Wachovia Bank cases to which Wells Fargo succeeded), most of which have been consolidated in multi-district litigation proceedings (the "MDL proceedings") in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The court in the MDL proceedings has certified a class of putative plaintiffs and Wells Fargo moved to compel arbitration of the claims of unnamed class members. The court denied these motions to compel arbitration on October 17, 2016.

SALES PRACTICES MATTERS Federal, state and local government agencies, including the United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and state attorneys general and prosecutors’ offices, as well as Congressional committees, have undertaken formal or informal inquiries, investigations or examinations arising out of certain sales practices of the Company that were the subject of settlements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney announced by the Company on September 8, 2016. The Company has responded, and continues to respond, to requests from a number of the foregoing seeking information regarding these sales practices and the circumstances of the settlements and related matters. A number of lawsuits have also been filed by non-governmental parties seeking damages or other remedies related to these sales practices.

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 $1.7 billion as of September 30, 2016. The change in the high end of the range from June 30, 2016 related to a number of matters. It is inherently difficult to determine whether any loss is probable or even possible or to estimate the amount of any loss. Accordingly, there may be a range of possible losses in excess of the established liability or the range of reasonably possible loss. Wells Fargo is unable to determine whether the ultimate resolution of either the mortgage related regulatory investigations or the sales practices matters will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial condition. Based on information currently available, advice of counsel, available insurance coverage and established reserves, Wells Fargo believes that the eventual outcome of other actions against Wells Fargo and/or its subsidiaries will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on Wells Fargo’s consolidated financial condition. However, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of a matter, if unfavorable, may be material to Wells Fargo’s results of operations for any particular period.