ADVERTISEMENT

Wells Fargo's CEO Disputes Claim His Bank Is Too Big to Manage

Sloan told the House Financial Services Committee that the lender is working to address 14 open consent orders from regulators.

Wells Fargo's CEO Disputes Claim His Bank Is Too Big to Manage
Pedestrians walk past a Wells Fargo & Co. bank branch in Washington, D.C., U.S. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan detailed efforts he’s taken to turn the bank around and pushed back against a lawmaker’s claims that it’s too big to manage.

Sloan told the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday that the lender is working to address 14 open consent orders from regulators.

“It’s my job as CEO to make sure things change, and they are changing,” Sloan said.

Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who chairs the panel, said a litany of scandals over the last three years and the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented decision to impose an asset cap prove the firm is too big to manage. Sloan disagreed.

“You have not been able to keep Wells Fargo out of trouble,” Waters says. “Why should Wells Fargo continue to be the size that it is?”

--With assistance from Michelle Kim and Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hannah Levitt in New York at hlevitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Steve Dickson, Steven Crabill

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.