Unchained Wells Fargo Heads into 2026 With Fresh Momentum 

For the first time since 2018, the Wells Fargo stagecoach is rolling into a new year without the emergency brake engaged.

In June, the Federal Reserve lifted a stringent $1.95 trillion asset cap, imposed in 2018 after a series of scandals that included creating more than a million fake accounts and charging some mortgage and auto borrowers more than they actually owed. Now, early results show the fourth-largest US bank entering 2026 with more than $2 trillion in assets and picking up momentum.

Seventh Heaven

CEO Charles Scharf, who took over in 2019 after two predecessors departed amid a years-long regulatory firestorm, worked judiciously to rebuild confidence with authorities: He told a financial services forum earlier this month that Wells had dedicated $2 billion to $2.5 billion annually toward resolving regulatory issues. With the asset cap lifted, that capital is freed up for deployment elsewhere. Scharf has also reorganized the business and trimmed the bank’s workforce while hiring dozens of senior managers, including JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley veterans at the executive level, in preparation for Wells’ reemergence.

One of Scharf’s most aggressive goals is to make Wells one of the world’s top five investment banks. In 2025, those new hires made significant headway toward getting there: Wells’ investment bankers advised on $436 billion in mergers and acquisitions, good for ninth place among global lenders, according to Dealogic data. Only a year earlier, the bank ranked 17th. Among the major deals on which Wells worked are Netflix’s $72 billion offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery and Union Pacific’s $85 billion acquisition of rival rail operator Norfolk Southern. The advances don’t end there:

• Days before Christmas, Bloomberg reported that Wells will enter the options clearing market, where banks earn fees by providing capital and settlements for options trading, in 2026. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs currently dominate the growing space
• GATX and Brookfield Infrastructure announced they received the regulatory go-ahead to complete their acquisition of Wells’ rail operating lease portfolio, and expect the deal to close on or around New Year’s Day. Wells Fargo said the portfolio’s book value of $4.4 billion won’t have a material impact on earnings, but it will help the company continue to simplify its focus on core banking operations.

Sizing Up the Competition: Wells Fargo shares climbed about 34% this year as of Monday, better than the iShares S&P US Banks UCITS ETF, which gained 22%. That also bests Bank of America’s 25% and is roughly on par with JPMorgan’s 35%. Looks like the Wells Fargo wagon is a-comin’ down Wall Street.