A lifetime industry ban against former Wells Fargo & Co. CEO John Stumpf, tens of millions of dollars in fines against former executives, and new details about a pressure-cooker sales culture have dragged the scandal-plagued bank back into its familiar, uncomfortable place in the public spotlight.

But the charges and settlements announced by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Jan. 23 against Stumpf and seven other former executives do not appear to have landed a direct blow against the bank itself or its tortured efforts to overhaul its operations and turn the page on an era of consumer abuses.

Wells Fargo's already-depressed shares ticked down a modest 0.7% on the day of the news, doing a bit better than the 1.19% decline in the SNL U.S. Bank and Thrift index. On Jan. 24 at about 12:49 p.m. ET, Wells Fargo's shares were down by another 1.57%. Some observers viewed the OCC's actions as an inevitable milestone for the bank.

"The bigger question for investors, moving ahead, is how the new-ish CEO, Charles Scharf, deals with the OCC and the [Federal Reserve], and whether the bank can get the asset freeze lifted this year," Capital Alpha analyst Ian Katz said in a note, referring to a cap that regulators imposed on Wells Fargo that limits its size to the level of assets it held at year-end 2017. "We think it has a good chance to do so, as long as any new developments are essentially backward-looking, as Thursday's news was."

Lawrence White, an economist at New York University's Stern School of Business who specializes in financial regulation, expressed a similar view. Today's Wells Fargo can say "this happened in the past," White said in an interview. "It does allow them to move forward a bit more."

In a memo from Scharf to employees that the bank made public, Wells Fargo distanced itself from the former executives targeted by the OCC. Scharf said that the failure to have "appropriate people, structure, processes, controls, or culture" in place at the time of the misconduct described in the settlements and charges "was inexcusable."

"Our customers and you all deserved more from the leadership" of the bank, he added.

The settlements and charges do underscore the depth and uniqueness of Wells Fargo's predicament, however. The nearly $60 million the OCC is seeking from former top executives, along with other sanctions, stand in contrast to outcomes for the industry during the financial crisis and its aftermath, when banks were fined billions of dollars for mortgage-related abuses, but executives were rarely penalized by authorities directly. Wells Fargo is certain to remain the target of intense political scrutiny.

White attributed the difference in part to the "egregious" and direct nature of Wells Fargo's misconduct against retail customers at the heart of its business, which included possibly millions of fraudulent account openings. "This stuff, it's easy to understand," he said.

Thomas Brooks, a lawyer at the firm Clark Hill and former general counsel at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said political pressure likely also played a role in pushing regulators to seek severe penalties.

"There's been so much press and so much congressional inquiry," he said.

The OCC alleged that Wells Fargo's business model "presented a stark dilemma to employees every day for 14 years: they could engage in sales practices misconduct — much of which was illegal — to meet their goals, or they could struggle to meet their goals and face adverse consequences, including losing their jobs."

According to the agency, one military veteran employed at the bank wrote to executives, "This is sad and hard for me to say, but I had less stress in the 1991 Gulf War than working for Wells Fargo."

In the week before the OCC announced the settlements and charges, on a conference call to discuss Wells Fargo's earnings, Scharf said he could not provide a time frame for when Wells Fargo will be able to move beyond its regulatory issues.

"Our job is to do the work that's necessary," he said. "Regulators and other stakeholders will determine when it's done to their satisfaction."

Scharf described the comprehensive strategic review Wells Fargo launched when he officially took the reins in October 2019. "We intend to be detailed, thoughtful and complete. To do this properly, and given our priorities, it will take time, much of this year, to complete our work," he said.

He added, "There is much to do, and I know the path to success will be bumpy."