wells fargo  co wfc has hired law firm covington  burling llp to conduct an external thirdparty racial equity audit which will include input from both internal and external stakeholders and focus on the banks efforts to serve diverse communities and promote a diverse work force commissioning this work is a critical next step in reinforcing our commitment to racial equity and closing the wealth gap in this country wells fargo ceo charlie scharf said in a prepared statement wells fargo plans to publish the results of the assessment by the end of 2023 after announcing the effort on tuesday afternoon the bank has faced legal challenges to its mortgage lending practices to minorities as well as allegations that it held bogus interviews with minority candidates for jobs already filled shares of wells fargo are down 98 in 2022 compared to a 172 drop by the sp 500 spx 