BRIEF: Wells Fargo acknowledges $1 billion federal settlement offer

April 13--Wells Fargo is acknowledging that federal regulators have offered to resolve a host of investigations into the consumer banking giant for $1 billion.

The disclosure comes as Wells reports a 6 percent increase in first-quarter profit. Shares fell 3 percent in midday trading Friday, April 13 to $51.04.

The bank continues to navigate several investigations related to the opening of fake customer accounts, forcing customers to take unnecessary auto insurance policies, unfairly charging fees tied to mortgage rates and other matters. Well says the potential $1 billion penalty involves the auto insurance and mortgage fee matters.

The bank reported first-quarter earnings of $5.9 billion, or $1.12 per share, better than the 5.46 billion and $1.03 per share for the same period last year.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of $1.06 per share.

The Mercury News contributed to this report.

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