SKN | Wells Fargo Reaches A- Credit Rating as Risk Management Overhaul Gains Recognition

Key Takeaways:

• Wells Fargo has received an upgrade from S&P Global Ratings to A- from BBB+, reflecting progress in governance, risk culture and operational oversight.
• The upgrade follows the June 2025 removal of the Federal Reserve’s seven-year asset cap, giving the bank greater capacity to expand its balance sheet and deepen client relationships.
• Wells Fargo has used that additional capacity to expand commercial lending, credit cards and auto finance while strengthening its capital-markets operations.
• The bank’s stronger risk infrastructure is becoming increasingly important as it pursues faster growth while maintaining capital and liquidity discipline.

Wells Fargo has reached a significant point in its post-restructuring trajectory after S&P Global Ratings upgraded the bank’s long-term issuer credit rating to A- from BBB+. S&P cited meaningful progress in governance, risk culture and operational oversight, placing the bank’s risk-management transformation at the center of the rating decision.

Risk Controls Have Become a Growth Enabler

For Wells Fargo, the significance of the upgrade extends beyond the rating itself. The bank spent years rebuilding its risk and control framework following extensive regulatory scrutiny. Its 2025 annual report states that the removal of the Federal Reserve asset cap in June 2025 followed sustained work to strengthen risk management, operational efficiency, technology and talent.

The end of the restriction materially changed the bank’s operating capacity. Wells Fargo can now pursue balance-sheet expansion without the same regulatory constraint that limited deposits, loans and other income-generating assets. That creates a different strategic requirement: growth must now be matched by controls capable of supporting a substantially larger institution.

Wells Fargo Is Converting Regulatory Freedom Into Business Expansion

Since the asset cap was lifted, Wells Fargo has expanded its commercial lending, credit-card and auto-financing portfolios and strengthened its capital-markets presence. According to the S&P-related report, total assets grew 15% year over year, while return on tangible common equity reached 16.1% through mid-2026, moving the bank toward its medium-term target of 17% to 18%.

The pace matters because Wells Fargo is no longer operating primarily in recovery mode. It is transitioning toward a model in which improved controls support broader client relationships and higher returns. S&P expects asset growth to moderate toward industry averages by 2027, suggesting that the next phase will place greater emphasis on quality and sustainability of growth rather than simply expanding the balance sheet.

Capital and Liquidity Remain Central to the Next Phase

Wells Fargo entered this expansion with substantial financial buffers. The bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 10.3%, while deposits represented 72% of total liabilities and its liquidity coverage ratio was 119%, according to the S&P-related report. S&P assigned a stable outlook across Wells Fargo entities.

For sophisticated wealth holders, this is the more consequential aspect of the development. The bank’s stronger rating and restored growth capacity are being built on an infrastructure designed to make risk discipline compatible with scale. That matters for clients relying on Wells Fargo for lending, liquidity, custody or broader financial services, particularly as the institution expands its commercial and capital-markets activities.

The Strategic Test Is Sustaining Discipline While Growing

The next stage for Wells Fargo will be measured less by the removal of its former constraints and more by its ability to maintain stronger governance while pursuing growth. S&P’s stable outlook provides a degree of continuity, but the agency also indicates that aggressive expansion or deterioration in capital buffers could pressure future ratings.

For HNWI clients, the key signal is therefore institutional: Wells Fargo is moving from regulatory remediation toward controlled expansion. Whether that transition remains durable will depend on how effectively the bank preserves its enhanced risk architecture as its balance sheet, client relationships and market activities continue to grow.

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