SAN FRANCISCO–After seven years of operating under an asset cap, Wells Fargo’s CEO said he believes the bank is approaching the point at which it will freed to begin to grow again.

Wells Fargo was placed under the highly unusual asset cap in 2018 by the Federal Reserve after a series of scandals, including the creation of millions of fake customer accounts opened by employees desperate to meet aggressive cross-sales targets.

The asset cap is $1.95 trillion.

Now, according its CEO, Charlie Scharf, just two consent orders remain for Wells Fargo to demonstrate compliance, and Scharf told a conference he believes the cap will be lifted sooner rather than later.

“Our level of confidence in terms of where we are and how far we are down that road is extremely high,” Scharf said, according to BankingDive. “We’re not done, but we’re a hell of a lot closer to the end than the beginning, at this point.”

$2 Billion Spent Annually on Risk

According to Wells Fargo, it is spending about $2 billion annually on its risk and control agenda, and has simplified its business, exiting some areas with lower returns or low growth rates. It has also brought in numerous new execs – 150 of the bank’s top 220 people are new – establishing the “proper risk mindset” at the company, Scharf said, according to Banking Dive.

Six consent orders have been cleared this year, and 12 since 2019, when Scharf became CEO. 

“The scarlet letter goes away, and we’re not differentiated from the other companies out there,” and bankers can think more aggressively, Scharf stated.