The bank is also investigating a complaint made about its head of wealth.

California-headquartered bank Wells Fargo has been investigating internal complaints of gender bias in its wealth management division for months, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report also said that it is examining at least one formal complaint about the male wealth division head.

According to the WSJ, female executives at Wells Fargo have raised concerns about gender bias in the bank's wealth management division. A dozen women who are executives in the division met in Scottsdale, Arizona, in June to discuss their concerns, in particular the lack of women in senior roles.

The newswire also said that part of the internal investigation is focused on a complaint against Jay Welker, president of Wells Fargo's private bank and head of the wealth management division since 2003. He reportedly told some executives that "women should be at home taking care of their children." 

A spokesperson for the bank told Family Wealth Report: "We value all of our Wells Fargo team members, and we take seriously any allegation raised by a team member, or against a team member. We ensure that concerns raised are thoroughly and objectively investigated, while taking measures to protect confidentiality. Once an investigation is complete we are committed to taking any appropriate action. At Wells Fargo we are committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our business, which we believe is essential to engaging our team members, customers, communities and shareholders."

The bank has dealt with multiple scandals across its business units in the past two years. In 2016, it was revealed that branch employees had opened millions of fake accounts in customers' names without their knowledge to meet sales targets.

The case also comes as the banking world - along with other sectors such as media, entertainment and politics - have been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment, mistreatment of female staff, and bullying. At the same time, there have been more calls for the banking industry to give more opportunities for women across different parts of the corporate hierarchy.