December 8, 2020
By Imani Moise
(Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf said on Tuesday that the megabank will debut new financial reporting metrics in January to give better insights into its performance.
Scharf began implementing sweeping changes across the fourth-largest U.S. bank shortly after joining the firm last October and is hoping to be able to report tangible changes next year.
“Our internal reporting is getting far, far better,” he told investors at the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference. “I think that will translate through.”
In January, Wells Fargo will report earnings reflecting for the first time the new business lines Scharf put in place in February when he increased the bank’s official segments to five from three.
He has also installed new external leadership, created new executive positions and launched a broad cost-cutting initiative targeting $10 billion in annualized savings over the long term.
Wells Fargo became the first major bank to resume layoffs over the summer after pausing because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scharf braced investors for another restructuring charge in the fourth quarter similar to the $718 million charge it booked last quarter primarily related to severance costs, and said the bank was still eyeing potential divestitures for smaller product sets.
(Reporting by Imani Moise; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
