Wells Fargo names new head of mortgage
By Imani Moise
(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N> said on Thursday it has hired Flagstar Bank's Kristy Fercho to run its mortgage division following the retirement of 23-year veteran Michael DeVito from the company.
Fercho will oversee home lending operations of the largest mortgage lender in the United States during a time of uncertainty in the industry. She had run Flagstar's mortgage business for the past three years.
Wells Fargo has pared back some mortgage offerings and raised requirements for certain kinds of loans during the coronavirus-fueled economic downturn. As of last month, the bank had received forbearance requests for roughly 13% of its mortgage balances, it has said.
Since taking over as chief executive late last year, Charles Scharf has shaken up leadership at the bank and installed a slew of former colleagues in top positions. In the wake of racial tensions across the United States, Scharf has also pledged to diversify the bank's leadership team.
"She has been an inspiring and vocal leader across the mortgage industry while driving transformational growth at Flagstar,” said Mike Weinbach, new CEO of Consumer Lending at Wells Fargo, referring to Fercho, who is Black.
DeVito, who ran the mortgage division for two years, will retire later this summer.
Separately, Wells Fargo's former chief operational risk officer, Mark Weintraub, has left the bank following a broad overhaul of its risk management structure, according to sources familiar with the matter. In his role, Weintraub helped oversee the bank's efforts to address the Federal Reserve's consent order requiring Wells Fargo to improve its risk controls following wide ranging consumer abuses.
(Reporting by Imani Moise in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
