Wells Fargo taps longtime executive as its next chief risk officer

Wells Fargo has named company veteran Derek Flowers as its new chief risk officer, a key position as the megabank seeks to repair its standing with regulators.

Flowers will replace Amanda Norton, whose retirement plans were announced earlier this month. Norton, a former JPMorgan Chase executive who had been Wells Fargo’s chief risk officer since mid-2018, before CEO Charlie Scharf joined the company, will stay until June to help with the transition.

“Building a risk and control foundation appropriate for Wells Fargo's size and complexity remains our top priority,” Scharf said Tuesday in a press release, calling Flowers a “proven leader” whose “background and familiarity with the company” will help it meet that mission.

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Flowers, who was previously the bank’s head of strategic execution and operations, has spent more than two decades at the $1.9 trillion-asset bank and has played a key role in helping to rebuild its operations in the wake of past regulatory scandals, Scharf said. The San Francisco bank continues to operate under several consent orders with regulators.

During Wells Fargo’s fourth quarter earnings call last week, Scharf pointed to progress the bank has made in resolving some of those issues, while also noting that setbacks were “likely to continue along the way” and describing the process as a “multiyear effort.”

In September, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency hit Wells with a new $250 million penalty, citing continued problems in its home lending unit and violations of a 2018 consent order. The bank also continues to operate under an asset cap the Federal Reserve imposed in 2018, which prevents it from growing beyond roughly $1.95 trillion in assets.

Flowers’ promotion was effective immediately. He is a member of Wells Fargo’s operating committee and has previously served as the company’s chief market risk officer and chief credit officer.