Wells Fargo names Santander executive COO

Dive Brief:

Wells Fargo tapped Scott Powell as its new chief operating officer, the bank announced Monday. Powell will fill a position that has been vacant since October 2016, when Tim Sloan was promoted to CEO.
Powell, who most recently served as CEO of Santander Holdings USA Inc., as well as Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., will start Dec. 9.
Powell will oversee regulatory execution and relations, enterprise shared services and a range of operational functions across the company, the San Francisco-based bank said in a release.

Dive Insight:

Powell and Wells Fargo's new CEO, Charlie Scharf, have crossed paths in the past. The two executives worked together at Bank One and JPMorgan Chase. Powell, like Scharf, will be based in New York.

"I have known Scott for many years, and his tremendous experience, proven track record and unquestioned integrity will make him a great addition to our management team," Scharf said in a statement. Scharf joined Wells Fargo in October after leaving Bank of New York Mellon.

"He's the ideal person to take on this new position as we seek to transform Wells Fargo so that high-quality execution, clear accountability and operational excellence become unquestioned components of our culture," Scharf said. "These elements are critical for us as we tackle our most important priority, regulatory remediation, and also create the foundation from which to build Wells Fargo and to best serve our customers."

The bank is operating under a $1.95 trillion asset cap enforced by the Federal Reserve, a result of a fake-accounts scandal that first came to light in 2016. The cap will stay in place through the end of this year.

Wells Fargo has seen several leadership moves since Scharf took the helm. Former JPMorgan Chase executive and previous White House Chief of Staff William Daley was named to head the bank's public affairs, Wells Fargo announced last month.

The bank also announced last month that C. Allen Parker, general counsel and former interim CEO would leave Wells Fargo in March.

Powell's annual base salary is $1.75 million, according to regulatory filings. He will also receive a $3.2 million signing bonus.

Timothy Wennes will replace Powell at Boston-based Santander U.S. Wennes, who is the CEO of the banking unit, will keep that role and add on Powell's duties, according to the Boston Business Journal.