Bettina Network Foundation, inc. is calling on everyone to join in and actively participate in this boycott of Wells Fargo Bank.
For a very long time banks have been fundamental in making sure there is none to very little change in this society. Racism, sexism, homophobia, class discrimination, who owns and keeps the wealth in this country and so much more are determined by your local bank – which is probably no longer local but is the branch or unattended outlet of a major, international banking plus other businesses institution. And most notably they are majorly responsible for homelessness. Not entirely, to be sure, but they do maintain the structure – in tact – no matter how loud or long they protest their innocence.
What do they gain? One thing is keeping us divided against each other so communication as to what they are doing is knowledge kept and known only to a few.
How is wealth created in these United States? Through either real estate or stock. Either through ownership of land – real property – as it increases in value, or through ownership in corporations as they increase in value.
Many people have tried to increase their wealth and have been stymied. Mostly by the banks – even though we are not ignoring the role of other institutions. Unfortunately, in spite of our great educations, most of us are ignorant of how this happens and therefore it continues.
How has this happened? Little by little we hope to unfold for you all of it so you can function with a knowledge that makes your actions and your life more productive.
Banks have in the past and still do today majorly maintain segregated neighborhoods through “red lining”. They are helped in this endeavor by some realtors, but brokers, dealers, realtors can’t take all the credit. Most of it goes to the banks.
Red lining is an old way of maintaining separation of peoples based on things like color, economic and financial status, etc. which has not gone out of existence. It has just gone underground and periodically takes on new forms. Banks do not maintain that separation of peoples only through red lining, they do it through the intentional destruction of neighborhoods targeted for “urban renewal” or for a change of a neighborhoods racial make-up or etc. There are billions of dollars involved and to be made by those who are a part of such transactions along with the loss of lives, livelihoods and more.
Which bank is the most egregious bank of them all? WELLS FARGO!
In spite of tens of thousands of dollars having gone into the legal process to get them to change and many other ways which have been tried to approach this problem, Wells Fargo is still ripping off the American public – and probably many overseas as well. As a result of the legal processes, which they lost, the only change we can see is a new and improved marketing and advertising program which the bank has rolled out instead of making restitution in real ways to those they have hurt. That marketing and advertising program is nothing more than smoke and mirrors to get you to continue doing business with them so they can continue doing that business as usual. And lets not talk about fines, etc. imposed on Wells Fargo. To you and me that is like money to go to the store to buy ice cream or a pizza given their overall finances.
The ugliness, which has hurt so many, is still enshrined within the bank along with its structures and the people who carry them out. Most are people who carry out these policies to put food on their tables and to keep a roof over their heads. Many are people competing to have better food and a more expensive roof over their heads. It is time to take another look at what you can do and how you – Wells Fargo employees – can contribute to bringing about basic change, accepting your responsibility for being one of those making the lives of others extremely difficult so you and yours can benefit. There are ways you can help bring about basic change and maintain your job and your increasingly lucrative and going up the ladder of success lifestyle. You don’t have to concentrate on or be involved in only the one – because you are likely to be one of those against whom you moved to make their lives difficult to impossible. History shows that is probably going to be the result of your efforts, if you continue on the path you are now taking.
Exposure is one way! Open the windows, throw open the doors and let fresh air flow through. Let the general public know what is going on and what we can do to make basic change so we all benefit.
Bettina Network Foundation, inc. is calling one way we can all move towards changing this society for the better:
- If you have a savings account with Wells Fargo – close it. You can open it with another bank. And yes, all banks are complicit, but you have to start someplace. One bank has to make change and one very large bank with lots of influence and which has been shown to be a bank which destroys lives, property, the quality of lots of peoples way of life and keeps on keeping on going down the wrong street ripping peoples lives apart is a good place to start.
2. Once you have closed your savings account, let us know and let Wells Fargo know you closed your account and why!
3. If you have a checking account with Wells Fargo – close it.
4. And once again, let us know and let Wells Fargo know you closed your checking account and why!
5. If you own stock in Wells Fargo – sell it. And let Wells Fargo know you sold your stock in their bank and any subsidiaries you can find – let us know about the subsidiaries and let us and Wells Fargo know you sold your stock and why!
6. And this is a biggy! Do you own stock in other publicly traded corporations? Check out who is the transfer agent responsible for keeping the records for that publicly traded corporation. If it is Wells Fargo Shareowner Services or EG by Equiniti – demand that the corporation change its transfer agent and hire another totally unconnected to Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo Shareowner Services, from our experience, did lots to hurt John and Jane Q. Public. Instead of responding to what they did they simply changed their name, ignored the problems they created and kept on moving ahead. This is common for many corporations. It is time for this to stop and you have the power to stop these under handed activities.
A statement taken from Equinity’s marketing materials – “Even though Wells Fargo has sold its transfer agency business, our relationship with Wells Fargo remains strong. We will continue to use banking and brokerage services provided by Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo will continue to use us as its transfer agent.”
Today’s Story is only one, but it begins to unfold why we are promoting and managing this boycott and what we want changed? Bettina Network Foundation, inc’s goal is to eliminate homelessness. That is a growth area in this society and the ways it has been attacked have not worked. It is time to look at the base reasons and eliminate and change them so everyone has food, shelter and work in this very wealthy society. We do not need to continue on this path of the rich getting richer and the middle class becoming homeless.
TODAY’S STORY!
“We owned Dayton-Hudson stock and we owned Target Corp stock for decades. When
Dayton-Hudson became Target Corp. all of our stock became Target Corp. stock. We kept that stock for decades. When we needed to sell the stock because we needed the money
for business purposes and needed that asset changed to cash quickly – as promised it would be by Target Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commissio – we had to go through Wells Fargo Shareowner Services.
When we contacted Wells Fargo Shareowner Services to ask that they sell the stock – it became a several years consumption of money, time, emotional energy and more.
A transaction that should have taken a few minutes to send a letter with the appropriate form – accurately filled out – and then the next step taken by Wells Fargo Shoreowner Services should have been just four days for the stock to be sold and just a very short time after that for the money to be deposited into my account. That process actually took almost three years. Why? We have many theories, but why is irrelevant. What is relevant is
that our money was kept and our access to an asset which the Securities and Exchange Commission supposedly is the watch dog agency to make sure things like this does not happen all were useless in the face of Wells Fargo. Whatever they did was accepted and acceptable and I was put in the position of first a supplicant – please get this done, I need my money; through to a very angry woman demanding her assets be treated and acted upon per her request.
WHY did I have to go through this? Because the Direct Purchase Plan with Target Corporation gave Wells Fargo Shareowner Services – the transfer agent for Target Corporation – the right to keep the stock certificates of the stock we owned. I was told many stories as to why that was the best thing to do – “when you are ready to sell there is no issue with the stock certificates, they are in the possession of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services or whichever transfer agent Target Corporation was using and the sale of the stock will be stress free for everyone and able to be executed in minutes.”
That was a lie! If, for any reason one of those corporations wants to move against you without showing their hand because you are a political or other kind of nuisance, you have given them the ability to do just that and they will use it – to harass you and make your financial life a shambles at their discretion and Wells Fargo Shareowner Services was the champion at doing that. Leave your stock certificates for safe keeping with their services and they control your asset and no one is going to come to your rescue. Attorneys will, costing more than the stock is worth, but no one else moves to help no matter their job description or their mandate.
Target Corporation, in spite of going all the way up the ladder from Customer Service to the “investment” area to the CEO of Target Corporation refused any kind of help. To them, the responsibility was with Wells Fargo Shareowner Services and they closed off communications of all kind. Letters went unanswered, pleas went unheeded, the door to the Executive Suite slammed shut. This was not their problem. But – said I – this is your stock not Wells Fargo’s stock. Mean silence prevailed.
It took almost three years of going back and forth with Wells Fargo Shareowner Services, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Attorney Generals Office and more such institutions. When a lawyer became involved – only then were our wishes heeded. At that point the asset was gone – attorneys don’t come cheap. So while their goal was not fulfilled one way, it was indeed fulfilled in another way even more effective because it took my time, the asset and emotional energy to get to that solution.
When we started the process of asking that the Target Stock be sold, Wells Fargo Shareowner Services had just taken over as Target Corporations transfer agent. Today just three plus years later ownership of that Wells Fargo Shareowner Services has been transferred to Equinity. The same people are at the top and all through the ranks so what happened? Did their problems multiply because of the way they did business and the number of people they hurt that the easiest thing for them to do was not to make amends for their sins, but to transfer ownership so they did not have to take responsibility and did not have to correct their wrongs? Talk to Equiniti and you will be told – sorry that is not our problem, we are not the company with whom you had problems. Clean – swift – vicious!”
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That is a common way for such corporations to act and it is time for that to stop. If you hurt someone you need to make amends and make those people whole again at the same time changing the processes which caused the problem in the first place.
So we will go back to asking you to check your stock certificates on any stock you own – if the transfer agent is Wells Fargo Shareowner Services or if it is Equiniti, demand that the corporation whose stock you own change their transfer agent or you sell the stock and buy into another corporation which uses another transfer agent and let us and them know what you have done.
We will publish your story with or without your name depending upon your request to us. Why without the name of the person involved? Because retaliation by corporations is common and many have experienced unnecessary hassle and harassment and loss because of corporations trying to silence the public so they can be allowed to continue doing ugly, vile things without taking responsibility and without making those people whole.
Small steps in the right direction have been taken, in the past, by expensive and long lasting law suits from which almost no one benefits. It is time for that to change!
Your basic responsibility is to the human beings with whom you inhabit this earth, to make it a better – more viable – kinder – gentler – more caring place to live without the ugliness we have all had to endure because of greed, power hunger and other such emotions and character flaws which have pervaded the institutions which are supposed to be there to help us navigate this world in a more flawless manner.
Please pass this along to as many people as you can possibly reach who you think need to read this message and to keep up with this boycott.
What do we need to continue, promote and make this a successful boycott?
Your ideas
Your time and energy to do the work of carrying this forward
Your money to help us meet the costs of such an action
______Ways to Contact Wells Fargo Bank to let them know you will not do business with them
Corporate Headquarters*
420 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California 94163
United States
Phone: 866-878-5865
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Learn More About How We Use Your Donation!
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Want to join us? Have a home that you want to open to become one of Bettina Network’s Hedge Schools? Call us and lets talk – or email us.
Ed. Note: Members of the Bettina Network Lifestyle Community can contribute to the Bettina Network Blog whenever they have anything they want to say and be heard by this fantastic group of people. Send your blog to bettinanetwork@comcast.net or mail it to us at P. O. Box 380585 Cambridge, MA. 02238 or call us on the telephone at 617-497-9166 to tell us what you want to say and we will write it for you.
Volunteer with Bettina Network Foundation, inc. to work estate sales; to help move items from one home to another; to contribute your ideas on how we can better use our resources in this effort to relieve and eliminate homelessness and poverty. We also need photographers; designers; and more. However much or little time you have, we are grateful.
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