Wells Fargo began on the US West Coast financing the Gold Rush and built a Main Street retail banking identity over 170 years.
It grew national after acquisitions like Wachovia and became the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Fake Accounts And A Rare Asset Cap
Between 2002 and 2016, Wells Fargo employees opened nearly two million unauthorized accounts, triggering fines and remediation costs nearly $8 billion.
The Federal Reserve also imposed a rare asset cap that froze the bank's growth at its 2017 size for years.
insights INSIGHT
Asset Cap Lifted Unlocked Strategic Freedom
The Fed lifted Wells Fargo's asset cap in 2024, freeing the bank to pursue growth strategies it couldn't while constrained.
CEO Charlie Scharf framed the change as reclaiming perception and permission to expand into new businesses.
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For more than 170 years, Wells Fargo built a reputation as an all-American Main Street lender. Now, it is charting a new path and pushing into investment banking, something that many other banks have tried and failed to do. The FT’s US banking editor Joshua Franklin and US banking correspondent Akila Quinio discuss what Wells Fargo does — and doesn’t have — going for it as it pursues this strategy.
