Wells Fargo Taps Santander US Chief as Chief Operating Officer

By Kimberly Chin

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) has named Scott Powell, the chief executive at Santander Holdings USA Inc., as its next chief operating officer, a move that will bring an executive experienced in financial turnarounds and regulation to its fold.

He will begin his newly-created role at Wells Fargo on Dec. 9. Based in New York, Mr. Powell will oversee regulatory execution and relations, enterprise-shared services as well as other operational functions at the company, Wells Fargo said.

"He's the ideal person to take on this new position as we seek to transform Wells Fargo so that high-quality execution, clear accountability and operational excellence become unquestioned components of our culture," said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf in prepared remarks.

At Santander, Mr. Powell, who also held the chief executive role at Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., was responsible for leading the financial turnaround at the consumer-finance company, including dealing with significant regulatory issues, improving customer oversight and improving financial and operating controls.

Separately, Santander Holdings USA has named Timothy Wennes to succeed Mr. Powell as its next chief executive, effective immediately. Mr. Wennes joined Santander in September as the chief executive officer of Santander Bank, N.A. He will now hold both titles.

Santander's U.S. Chief Risk Officer Mahesh Aditya has been named chief executive of Santander Consumer USA. He first joined Santander in 2017 and previously held the role of chief operating officer.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2019 17:32 ET (22:32 GMT)

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