Wells Fargo’s investment bank is a ‘five- to 10-year play’

Wells Fargo is in it for the long haul in its renewed drive to narrow the gap between its commercial and investment banking businesses.

Half a decade after a consumer-abuse scandal blew a previous attempt off course, Jon Weiss, chief executive of corporate and investment banking (CIB), describes it as “a five- to 10-year play, not a one- to two-year play.”

Weiss first started building Wachovia’s investment bank after arriving from JPMorgan in 2005. Wells Fargo’s opportunity in investment banking, as Weiss sees it, still springs from its 2009 merger with Wachovia.