Montana Helps Win Settlement After Major Wall Street Firms Overcharge Investors

If you have an investment account with Wells Fargo or Merrill Lynch, some extra money could soon be heading back to your bank account.

Montana Auditor James Brown recently joined state regulators across the country to secure a 4.4 million dollar refund agreement with both companies. The action follows an investigation that showed the firms had quietly charged higher fees than allowed on routine stock trades for years.

Here is what happened, who was affected, and what it means for everyday families in Montana.

What The Investigation Found

State investigators from Massachusetts, Montana, Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, and the North American Securities Administrators Association looked into trading activity between September 30, 2020, and October 1, 2025.

They discovered that both firms charged unfair transaction fees on more than 256,000 trades:

• Wells Fargo: Overcharged customers on roughly 228,243 individual trades, taking nearly 3.9 million dollars in extra fees.

• Merrill Lynch: Overcharged customers on about 28,162 smaller stock trades, taking nearly 549,000 dollars in extra fees.

What Affected Montanans Will Get Back

While the firms did not admit to wrongdoing, they agreed to a legal deal to pay customers back and fix their systems.

Here is what the agreement requires:

• Refunds with Interest: Affected account holders in Montana will get back any fee charged above 5 percent of their total trade, plus 6 percent interest.

• Fines: Wells Fargo will pay a fine of $2,014,000, and Merrill Lynch will pay a fine of $397,500.

• System Updates: Both companies must fix their computer systems and internal rules so trading fees never go above 5 percent again.

• Official Warning: The firms received an official mark on their records and were ordered to stop charging improper fees permanently.

"I am proud to have worked with regulators across the country to stand up for Americans who had their hard earned money unduly taken by these firms," Auditor Brown said. "That money will now be returned to where it belongs: with Montana families."

Holding Big Financial Firms Accountable

This effort is part of a larger push by the State Auditor’s Office to protect local account holders. Over the past year, Brown worked out similar refund agreements with other major investment companies, including Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, LPL Financial, RBC Capital Markets, and Stifel.

Together, these cases have returned millions of dollars to investors and forced large firms to change how they do business in Montana.

"I am not afraid to take on the largest Wall Street financial firms when their conduct harms everyday Montanans. Thanks to my team’s hard work, thousands of Montanans will receive restitution checks in the near future," Brown said. "This is just another step in keeping life affordable for my fellow Montanans."

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What You Should Do Next

If Wells Fargo or Merrill Lynch overcharged you during those five years, your refund check will be processed and sent automatically under the terms of the deal.

If you want to double check your account fees or learn more about your rights as an investor, you can visit the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance or call their Helena office at 406-444-2040.