Wells Fargo creates new roles in latest effort to satisfy regulators

Wells Fargo, which has been under a regulatory microscope following a series of scandals, has shuffled several executives from its consumer banking and wealth management units into new roles.

Interim CEO Allen Parker said in a press release Wednesday that the latest personnel moves will help the bank to meet the expectations of its regulators.

Wells Fargo sign
Pedestrians pass in front of a Wells Fargo & Co. bank branch in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Wells Fargo & Co. is scheduled to release earnings figures on January 12. Photographer: Daniel Tepper/Bloomberg

One of the changes involves the creation of a new high-level role in Wells Fargo’s consumer banking unit, which is headed by Mary Mack.

David Kowach, who formerly headed Wells Fargo Advisors, the bank’s retail brokerage arm, is becoming the head of community banking. He will report to Mack.

Several other executives who previously reported to Mack — including the heads of regional banking in the Eastern and Western U.S. — will now report to Kowach.

“David’s experience running Wells Fargo Advisors — one of Wells Fargo’s most distributed, regulated and customer-centric organizations — will help us move community banking forward as we continue our transformation,” Mack said in the press release.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo Advisors will be headed by Jim Hays, who has been with the bank for 14 years and most recently headed its private wealth financial advisers group.

Wells also announced the creation of a new role overseeing the bank’s enterprise customer excellence team. The job will be filled by Andy Rowe, who previously served in another role in the consumer banking division.

In his new position, Rowe will lead teams that deal with conduct management, complaint management and customer remediation. He will also report to Mack.

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