SAN FRANCISCO–Wells Fargo has named a new CEO. The banking giant has selected Charlie Scharf to lead the organization as it seeks to turn itself around and get out from under a federally imposed cap on its growth and operations.
Scharf, who is CEO of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., will replace interim chief Allen Parker after a six-month search for a new chief executive. The bank has been looking for a new CEO since its former CEO, Tim Sloan, stepped down in March of this year amid both political and media scrutiny.
While the challenges at Wells Fargo are well known, the new CEO has been given a strong incentive to take the job. According to the New York Times, Scharf will see a 40% pay hike at Wells Fargo with target compensation was set at $23 million annually, compared with $16.5 million in his final full year at Bank of New York. Scharf will also remain in New York to run the California-based bank.
Scharf, 54, has more than 24 years’ experience in various positions, including having served as CEO of Visa in addition to positions at Bank of New York Mellon.
Acting CEO Parker, who was the bank’s general counsel, is returning to that role.
List of Challenges
Among the many challenges in front of Scharf will be restoring the bank’s reputation after a score of various scandals, including the opening of more than three-million bogus customer accounts as employees scrambled to meet aggressive sales goals. The scandals led the Federal Reserve to impose a rare asset growth cap on the bank.
Wells Fargo remains the subject of several investigations as well as the subject of scrutiny from regulators.