Wells Fargo offers to meet with Standing Rock Sioux before year-end

Wells Fargo & Co said it would "be pleased" to meet with tribal elders from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe before year-end to discuss the U.S. bank's investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline, the company told the tribe in a letter dated Thursday.

A Wells Fargo spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the letter, and pictures of the document appeared on Twitter on Friday. In a statement, a spokesman added that the company has met with the Standing Rock tribe several times, most recently in October.

Wells Fargo is one of more than a dozen financial institutions with investments in the pipeline; others include Citigroup Inc and TD Bank [TDUSA.UL]. Activists have protested outside bank headquarters and branches in recent months to try to persuade the company to divest its investment in the line.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)