Wells Fargo has hired a new chief auditor after the executive who formerly held the job came under regulatory scrutiny and was placed on an extended leave of absence.
The San Francisco bank has had an acting chief auditor since October, when the company said that it would conduct a search to fill the position on a permanent basis.
That process ended Wednesday with the announcement that Julie Scammahorn will join Wells Fargo in April, reporting to CEO Tim Sloan and serving as a member of the firm’s operating committee.
Most recently, Scammahorn worked as chief auditor at Citigroup’s U.S. banking unit. She previously served as general auditor and senior vice president at American Express.
Scammahorn will lead a team of roughly 1,350 employees in the bank’s internal auditing unit, according to a press release from the $1.9 trillion-asset bank. She will take over from acting chief auditor Kimberly Bordner, who is expected to return to her previous role as executive audit director.
“Julie brings significant experience and a proven track record to this role, having led large audit functions for global financial services institutions,” Sloan said in the company’s press release.
Last fall, Wells Fargo announced that David Julian, who had been the bank’s chief auditor for the previous six years,
The two executives were placed on leave
Julian and Hardison were among eight top Wells executives who had previously been denied cash bonuses in an effort to reinforce accountability for the sales-practices scandal that engulfed the bank in September 2016.
Since the scandal first surfaced, Wells has disclosed that employees who were chasing lofty sales goals opened as many as 3.5 million customer accounts without authorization.
Wells Fargo spokesman Peter Gilchrist said Wednesday that both Julian and Hardison remain on administrative leave.
