Investment Bank News: Wells Fargo Names Powell Chief Risk Officer
Wells Fargo's 8-K says COO Scott Powell becomes chief risk officer on January 15, 2027, as Derek Flowers retires; a successor as operating chief is pending.
SAN FRANCISCO — Wells Fargo & Company said on September 23 that Scott Powell, its chief operating officer, will become chief risk officer effective January 15, 2027, a leadership change disclosed in an 8-K under Item 5.02. The filing adds that Powell will stop serving as chief operating officer once he takes the new post. In investment bank news, a change in who runs risk at a major lender is watched closely because that officer sets limits on the trading and lending businesses.
What the filing says
The 8-K is brief: Wells Fargo announced Powell’s appointment as chief risk officer and that he will no longer be COO after January 15. It was signed by Janet McGinness, the company’s senior associate general counsel and secretary.
The company’s accompanying announcement supplies the context. Chief risk officer Derek Flowers intends to retire in mid-January after nearly three decades at the bank. He joined in 1995, worked through a series of credit roles, served as chief credit officer, and became chief risk officer in 2022.
Powell’s background
Powell has been COO since December 2019. The company says he led its multi-year effort to transform risk and control priorities, and his current remit covers global operations, control management, corporate properties, corporate security, strategic sourcing, resiliency, customer complaints and remediations, and regulatory relations.
Earlier in his career he spent many years in risk management, led consumer banking and retail investments at JPMorgan Chase, and served as chief executive of Santander Holdings USA.
Context
Wells Fargo has about $2.3 trillion in assets and four reportable segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management. In June 2025 the Federal Reserve lifted the asset cap that had limited its balance sheet since 2018, and the bank has resolved 14 regulatory consent orders since 2019, according to InvestmentNews.
Succession
Wells Fargo has not named a new COO. The announcement said a successor for that role will be named in the near future. Chairman and chief executive Charlie Scharf credited Flowers with a major part in strengthening the bank’s risk and control framework.
Why it matters
Wells Fargo has spent years working through regulatory restrictions, and in its July earnings release Scharf said the bank is now deploying capital to grow, including in corporate and investment banking, where markets revenue was up 24% in the second quarter. A growing markets and capital markets business raises the stakes for the officer who sets risk limits.
Moving the operating chief into the risk role places a manager with responsibility for regulatory relations and remediation in charge of the risk function. The company has not said how the COO duties will be divided before a replacement is named.
What to watch
The naming of a new COO, and whether the role keeps its current scope, will show how Wells Fargo splits operations from risk after January 15. Any further changes in the bank’s executive committee are the other item to follow.
Prepared with AI assistance from public sources and reviewed under our editorial policy. Not investment advice.
