Wells Fargo's co-CEO of corporate and investment banking steps down

January 31, 2025 4:00 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: Wells Fargo's Jon Weiss resigned from his position as co-CEO of corporate and investment banking with plans to retire; a new CFPB report says military service members paid more for auto loans and add-on products; City National Bank's Kelly Coffee is leaving the bank after her 2023 demotion; and more.

Jonathan Weiss will assume leadership of Wells Fargo's Wealth and Investment Management division on July 1.

Photographer: David Beyda

Wells Fargo’s co-CEO of corporate and investment banking steps down

Jon Weiss, the co-CEO of corporate and investment banking at Wells Fargo, has stepped down from the position and plans to formally retire on June 1, the company said.

Fernando Rivas, previously the unit's co-CEO, will become its sole CEO, the bank said.

Weiss has worked at Wells Fargo since 2005. He is one of only three members of the bank's 17-person operating committee — along with Chief Risk Officer Derek Flowers and Commercial Banking CEO Kyle Hranicky — who have been with the company for at least a decade.

CEO Charlie Scharf, who joined Wells Fargo amid a series of scandals, has remade the bank's senior leadership ranks over the last six years.

Rivas joined Wells eight months ago. Like Scharf, Rivas spent much of his career at JPMorgan Chase, where he most recently served as head of North American investment banking. — Kevin Wack

Frank Gargano

CFPB says service members pay more for auto loans, add-ons

Military service members paid higher interest rates for new and used vehicle loans and higher fees for add-on products compared with civilians, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found.

The CFPB released a 46-page report this week on auto lending to service members that analyzed more than 20 million loans originated between 2018 and 2022. Service members typically have larger loans, make smaller down payments and shoulder higher monthly costs.

Many service members are young, have no financial assets and did not have a job before they joined the service — all factors that impact credit, banking experts said. Service members have lower credit scores and household incomes than civilians.

Service members paid $644 a month on average for new vehicle loans, or $20 more than non-service members, and roughly $500 for used vehicle loans, just $7 more than for non-service members. The average annual percentage rates of 5.3% for new vehicle loans and 9.3% for used vehicle loans were both 0.6 percentage points higher than the respective APRs for non-service members, the bureau found. — Kate Berry

Former CEO of the “bank to the stars” exits after demotion in 2023

City National Bank announced Thursday that Kelly Coffey, who previously served as CEO of the bank before being relegated amid a leadership shakeup, is leaving the bank.

Coffey joined City National Bank, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, in 2019 after serving as CEO of JPMorgan's U.S. private bank.

Dubbed "bank to the stars" for its deep Hollywood network, City National restructured its executive team in 2023 as rapidly rising interest rates put pressure on earnings. Greg Carmichael, the former CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp, stepped in as executive chair and, a few months later, replaced Coffey as CEO with fellow Fifth Third veteran Howard Hammond.

Coffey was named CEO of the bank's entertainment and private banking units — the position she'll exit next month. JaHan Wang, who had led entertainment banking before the reorganization, and Abel Montañez who has 20 years of private wealth management experience, will lead those teams going forward. —Catherine Leffert

Two Indianapolis credit unions strike deal to merge

Financial Center First Credit Union in Indianapolis said it would acquire a cross-town competitor in a bid for added scale.

The $880 million-asset Financial Center said in a press release it plans to buy the $46 million-asset Indianapolis Post Office Credit Union in a deal expected to close in May. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Cameron Minges, Financial Center's president and CEO, would lead the combined organization.

Financial Center expects to preserve the target's lone branch in the downtown Indianapolis Post Office building.

The merger is subject to approval from the National Credit Union Administration and the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions. Members of the credit unions are expected to vote on the deal late in the first quarter. —Jim Dobbs

USAA names new president

USAA announced another executive move on Thursday, weeks after tapping a new CEO, as the military-focused company sets out to put a lid on the regulatory and financial struggles that have hampered its bank for years.

The San Antonio-based company, which operates through insurance and bank subsidiaries, said Michael Moran became bank president permanently this week, after serving in an interim capacity since May. Moran said in a prepared statement that USAA will "remain focused on building the bank's financial strength," and enhancing customer products and service.

Moran previously held various finance leadership roles at USAA Bank and Key Bank.

A recent investigation from American Banker and the San Antonio Current highlighted shortcomings in the bank's risk management, technology and profitability. Earlier this month, USAA announced Juan Andrade will become its president and CEO in April, taking over from Wayne Peacock, who announced his retirement last year. —Catherine Leffert

Sandy Spring in Maryland posts loss ahead of sale to Atlantic Union

Sandy Spring Bancorp in Olney, Maryland — a suburb of Washington, D.C. — posted a fourth-quarter loss ahead of its sale to Atlantic Union Bankshares in Richmond, Virginia.

The $14 billion-asset Sandy Spring said in its earnings release that it lost $39.5 million in the fourth quarter because it recorded a $54.4 million goodwill impairment charge. It determined the charge during its annual goodwill impairment test, which was based on the terms of the merger agreement with Atlantic Union.

The goodwill impairment is a noncash charge and has no impact on the company's regulatory capital ratios, cash flows, core operating performance or liquidity position, Sandy Spring said.

The $25 billion-asset Atlantic Union said during its earnings call this month that it expects to close the Sandy Spring deal in April. It was the third-largest bank deal inked in 2024. Atlantic Union reported fourth-quarter net income available to common shareholders of $54.8 million. —Jim Dobbs

Former Ally CEO named to First Horizon board

First Horizon announced Tuesday that Jeffrey Brown, the former longtime leader of online auto lender Ally Financial, has joined its board of directors.

Brown currently serves as president of Hendrick Automotive Group in Charlotte, which he joined after his surprise exit from Ally last year. Brown was named American Banker's Banker of the Year in 2022.

First Horizon had to pivot business plans in 2023 after its planned merger with TD Bank — which came to face a host of regulatory troubles — was called off. The bank has been focused on upgrading its tech and reeling in deposits, and is now looking to ramp up its mobile and online banking systems.

"As head of the largest private company within the highly competitive automotive sector, he has a keen understanding of the priorities of a client-centric organization and operating in evolving economic landscapes," said First Horizon Lead Director Colin Reed in a prepared statement. —Catherine Leffert

U.S. Bank names head of newly created global transaction services biz

U.S. Bank has tapped Tarek El Yafi to lead its newly created global transaction services banking and payments business.

The global transaction services team will work with the bank's global treasury management, working capital finance, foreign exchange and Elavon business lines, among others, to increase their international reach.

El-Yafi brings more than 25 years' experience to the Minneapolis-based bank, including experience across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the U.K. and the U.S., with stints at Standard Chartered Bank and Citi.

The appointment comes the same day U.S. Bancorp said Gunjan Kedia would succeed longtime CEO Andy Cecere following his retirement in April. —Joey Pizzolato

FedNow approaches 1 million settlements in Q4

The Federal Reserve's FedNow instant payments rail approached nearly 1 million settlements in the fourth quarter, the central bank said last week.

915,263 transactions were settled on FedNow in Q4, representing $20.2 billion in value. That marks a 172% quarter-over-quarter increase in volume growth and a 15.4% increase in value growth. Average value per payment was just over $22,000, compared with about $52,000 in Q3.

Meanwhile, the average daily volume of settled payments hit 9,949 transactions, compared with 3,657 transactions in Q3. The average daily value of settled payments reached just over $219.4 million, up from more than $190.1 million in Q3. —Joey Pizzolato

Goldman’s Europe trading veteran Egee heads to Silver Point

Jeff Egee, Goldman Sachs Group's head of leveraged finance trading in Europe, is set to join Silver Point Capital, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Egee is leaving the bank after nearly two decades, said the people who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. He'll join Silver Point in the coming months as head of European trading, a newly created position, one of the people added.

Egee did not reply to a request for comment. Representatives for Goldman and Silver Point declined to comment.

The exit comes after Goldman promoted its next generation of executives, following a surge in profit.

Silver Point has been looking at expanding its presence in Europe over the past few years, becoming a creditor to companies such as Thames Water. It has also boosted its team in the U.S., recently tapping Stephen Catera from Siris Capital Group for a private markets role, Bloomberg reported. —Nishant Kumar and Carmen Arroyo, Bloomberg News

JPMorgan’s Sippel exits for Rokos, Thakur becomes Markets Chief

JPMorgan Chase's global markets co-head Jason Sippel is leaving for hedge fund Rokos Capital Management, with Pranav Thakur taking over as sole head of Wall Street's biggest trading desk.

Sippel, who spent more than two decades at JPMorgan and helped build the firm's equities business, will become deputy chief investment officer and global head of markets at Chris Rokos' macro hedge fund. Rich Tang, who joined Rokos in 2020 and had served as its head of markets, will become a senior advisor.

The moves were announced in internal memos sent by both firms and seen by Bloomberg News. A representative for Rokos Capital Management declined to comment. —Hannah Levitt and Nishant Kumar, Bloomberg News