Wells Fargo Hire New Chief Operating Officer Scott Powell

Wells Fargo & Co. announced that Scott Powell will step into the chief operating officer role on December 9, and report directly to CEO and President Charles Scharf. Powell was most recently CEO of Banco Santander Holdings USA and CEO of Santander Consumer USA Holdings where he oversaw its turnaround, including addressing regulatory issues, implementing operational controls and boosting profitability. He is the second outsider added to the leadership team by Scharf, formerly chairman and CEO of Bank of New York Mellon, since he took the helm in October. Last month, Scharf tapped Bill Daley, former White House chief of staff and another former JPMorgan Chase executive, as vice chairman of public affairs. Prior to Santander, Powell held various senior positions at JPMorgan Chase & Co. where he worked with Scharf, including head of consumer banking, lending operations and consumer risk management. Powell was also chief executive of consumer lending at Bank One, and spent 14 years at Citi in various risk management roles. As Wells Fargo’s COO, Powell will be tasked with overseeing Wells Fargo’s operations and relations with regulators.