Wells Fargo Takes a Page from the GMAC to Ally Playbook

Posted on 12/10/2021


If your bank gets a bad reputation with its customers, Congress, or regulators, it may be a good idea to change names.

For example, Ally Financial is a bank holding company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Does “Ally” sound much better than GMAC? The company was known as GMAC, an acronym for General Motors Acceptance Corporation, until 2010. In May 2009 GMAC Bank was rebranded as Ally Bank. In May 2010, GMAC re-branded itself as Ally Financial. GMAC is the most recent beneficiary of a U.S. government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. GMAC was the financing arm of General Motors, supplying funding for auto dealers to buy inventory and credit for consumers to buy cars. GMAC was also a major player in the U.S. home mortgage market.

All Hope Springs Eternal
The stories on Wells Fargo scandals appear to be endless. For example, the Wells Fargo account fraud scandal is a controversy brought about by the creation of millions of fraudulent savings and checking accounts on behalf of Wells Fargo clients without their consent.

In February 2021, GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners, L.P. acquired Wells Fargo Asset Management from Wells Fargo & Co. Under the terms of the agreement, the purchase price is $2.1 billion. The new owners in June 2021 rebranded the acquired Wells Fargo AM unit as Allspring Global Investments.

Effective December 6, 2021, the following Wells Fargo funds changed their names:
Wells Fargo Government Money Market Fund (old) – Allspring Government Money Market Fund (new)
Wells Fargo Heritage Money Market Fund (old) – Allspring Heritage Money Market Fund (new)
Wells Fargo Money Market Fund (old) – Allspring Money Market Fund (new)
Wells Fargo Treasury Plus Money Market Fund (old) – Allspring Treasury Plus Money Market Fund (new)

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