- The Fed’s June 2025 removal of Wells Fargo’s $1.95tn asset cap has reopened the door to balance-sheet growth and bigger corporate-finance mandates.
- Wells has surged in 2025 dealmaking and fees (about $420bn advised and ~$3.1bn in fees), landing marquee roles and moving into the global M&A top 10.
- It is staffing up aggressively with senior hires and trying to build a more credible C&IB franchise, including a stronger European footprint.
- Success is not assured given cultural integration, rising costs and scrutiny, and weaker competitiveness in ECM/M&A outside the US.
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In June 2025 Wells Fargo cleared a major institutional barrier—the US Federal Reserve removed its asset cap, set at approximately US$1.95 trillion following the fake-accounts scandal of the 2010s. This was a prerequisite for growth in large-scale corporate, investment banking, and capital market activities. The cap’s removal has enabled much more aggressive strategic positioning.
Under CEO Charlie Scharf, and with Fernando Rivas leading Corporate and Investment Banking, the bank has restructured itself significantly: hiring more than 50 senior bankers since 2019 from top institutions like Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Barclays; reorganising the CIB division to report separately. This reflects a concerted effort to compete with entrenched Wall Street firms.
Its deal-track record in 2025 underscores progress: advising on key marquee transactions, including Netflix’s ~US$83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (Wells Fargo committed ~US$29.5 billion in financing, being the sole bank awarded advisory credit), plus Union Pacific’s acquisition of Norfolk Southern, and the PNC-FirstBank deal. These not only drive revenue but credibility.
Performance metrics are improving: Wells ranked eighth globally in M&A by deal volume in 2025 (up from 17th in 2024), while its investment banking fee revenue exceeded US$3 billion. Also, revenue and net income in its CIB unit rose: in 2023, revenues were ~US$19.2 billion, net income US$6.4 billion, both up significantly YoY.
Nevertheless, strategic challenges remain. Internationally, the bank struggles to match its U.S. strength; its rankings in ECM and M&A outside the Americas remain modest. Integrating trading, leveraged finance, and payment services into a cohesive global CIB platform demands cultural, operational, and regulatory sophistication. Cost management is under pressure, especially as non-interest expenses increase with the expansion; margin compression in ECM and M&A is plausible.
Stakeholder expectations also have shifted: investors and regulators will scrutinise compliance and risk controls more closely given its past; public trust, brand reputation, and execution consistency will be critical in sustaining high-profile mandates; and macro factors (interest rates, capital markets, economic growth) will heavily influence deal flow. [/analysis>
In sum, Wells Fargo is no longer a sleeper but a rising contender in investment banking. The removal of structural constraints, coupled with bold hiring and deal activity, have yielded measurable gains. But to reach top-tier status sustainably, it needs to deliver scale, consistency, and credible performance especially in ECM and international markets, while controlling risks and expense inflation.
Supporting Notes
- Federal Reserve lifted Wells Fargo’s asset cap in June 2025, imposed after the 2018 fake-accounts scandal, freeing it to grow its balance sheet and take on larger deals.
- In 2025 Wells Fargo advised on approximately US$423 billion in deals—a roughly four-fold increase from its deal volume in 2024—and moved up to ninth place globally in M&A rankings.
- Investment banking fees for 2025 reached US$3.1 billion.
- Wells committed about US$29.5 billion in financing for Netflix’s ~US$82.7 billion Warner Bros Discovery takeover, and picked up advisory rights on that deal.
- In terms of organizational capacity, greater investments include hiring senior talent: Jeff Hogan (co-head of M&A) from Morgan Stanley; Clay Hale and Jill Ford from Credit Suisse for ECM; Malcolm Price and Brian Godofsky for TMT; Darren Campili for healthcare, among others.
- Despite gains, in international investment banking (outside Americas), Wells is lower-ranked: in Europe and Asia its ECM/M&A fee rankings are far behind competitors.
- Revenue vs net income: in 2023, the CIB division recorded revenue of ~US$19.2 billion and net income US$6.4 billion, representing growth of 26% and 17% YoY respectively.
- Its trading unit’s revenues rose to ~US$6.6 billion in 2023 (up 37%) and were ~US$1.8 billion in Q1 (up 2%).
- Q1 results show net income up ~48% YoY to US$3.8 billion though revenues down ~6%; this raises questions about durability of revenue growth under current conditions.