Wells Fargo, the scandal-plagued bank that has been searching for a new chief executive, announced on Friday (Sept. 27) that Bank of New York Mellon CEO and Chairman Charles W. Scharf has agreed to take on the job effective Oct. 21, CNBC reported.
“Charlie has demonstrated a strong track record in initiating and leading change, driving results, strengthening operational risk and compliance, and innovating amid a rapidly evolving digital landscape,” Wells Fargo Board Chairwoman Betsy Duke said in a statement.
The search for a CEO candidate was in the works for several months after Tim Sloan abruptly resigned from the position in March. Allen Parker, the bank’s general counsel, took over as interim CEO, and will continue to serve in that role until Scharf comes on board.
The fourth-largest bank in the U.S., Wells Fargo has been struggling to bounce back after a 2016 scandal that resulted in millions of fake accounts in customers’ names.
In a statement to The New York Times, Scharf said he felt “energized” to take on the new leadership role, and acknowledged that the bank was “in the midst of fundamental change.”
Prior to his role at BNY Mellon, Scharf was chief executive officer of Visa and is on the board of Microsoft.
In August, Wells Fargo hired Colleen Taylor to run its Wells Fargo Merchant Services, which shepherds the direction and oversight of its merchant services business as well as a joint initiative with Fiserv, according to a release by the company.
Taylor has 30 years of experience in the payments field. Her most recent position was as an executive vice president at Mastercard, where she helped to drive growth for the company in the areas of business to business (B2B), government and payment segments. In addition, she previously worked at Capital One, Chase Manhattan Bank and JPMorgan.
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