Wells Fargo investors approve executive pay, CEO underscores risk controls
FILE PHOTO: The logo and trading information for Wells Fargo are displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
By Nupur Anand
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wells Fargo shareholders on Tuesday approved its plans for executive compensation with a majority vote, including hiking CEO Charlie Scharf’s 2023 package to $29 million.
His compensation for 2022 was $24.5 million.
Scharf told investors at the bank’s annual meeting that it is investing in risk and control infrastructure, which became top priorities after a 2016 scandal in which employees had opened millions of fraudulent accounts, often to meet sales goals.
Regulators mandated additional oversight and imposed a $1.95 trillion asset cap that prevents the San Francisco-based bank from growing until it has fixed the problems.
“Our control environment has become increasingly stronger to numerous internal metrics and shows that the work is clearly improving in our control environment but we will not be satisfied until all of our work is complete,” Scharf said.
While analysts and investors have speculated that the asset cap will be lifted, executives have repeatedly said the decision is up to regulators.
The lender still has eight open consent orders after the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in February terminated a 2016 punishment for the bank’s sale practices.
The bank’s profit fell 7% in the first quarter. Rivals including Bank of America and Citigroup also posted lower earnings.
Scharf noted that the U.S. economy remains strong.
Consumer delinquencies have been rising among lower-income consumers, but are relatively contained, he added.
“Certain cohorts of consumers appear more stressed and that is something that we are watching closely,” Scharf said.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser also said on Tuesday that U.S. consumers are becoming more cautious with their spending, making smaller purchases.
(Reporting by Nupur Anand, additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York, editing by Lananh Nguyen and Richard Chang)