Latest news with #Scharf
Hypebeast
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Kenny Scharf To Present His Largest Solo Exhibition ‘Emotional' at MAM Shanghai
Summary Kenny Scharf's largest solo exhibition to date,Emotional, has opened atModern Art Museum(MAM) Shanghai, marking his China debut with a sweeping showcase of over five decades of work. Featuring more than 120 multidisciplinary pieces, the exhibition explores Scharf's playful yet intricate depictions of emotion, expressed through his vivid, cartoonish iconography. Spanning three floors, the show invites visitors into Scharf's world, culminating in the immersive Beach Club installation, a space designed to transport guests into the artist's West Coast-inspired utopia. Curated by Shai Baitel, Artistic Director of MAM Shanghai,Emotionalhighlights Scharf's distinctive visual language, merging ancient pictographic traditions with modern emoji culture. His work, characterized by exaggerated facial expressions and dynamic compositions, has long examined the complexity of human emotion and communication. Organized into thematic sections – Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness and Awe – the exhibition offers audiences an interactive emotional journey. Reflecting on the exhibition, Scharf shares, 'We've engineered a universe that brings complex realities and emotions together into one central experience.' A standout feature of the exhibition, Kenny Scharf's Beach Club, transforms an entire museum floor into a Venice Beach-inspired escape, blending art, nostalgia and immersive interaction. Visitors can experience paddleball games, vintage surfboards, inflatables and skateboards, all adorned with Scharf's signature pop-art motifs. Five newly created sculptures surround a reinterpretation of Venice Beach's iconic pink lifeguard tower, serving as the installation's centerpiece. Beyond the Beach Club, the exhibition also includes Scharf's most celebrated series, such as Facial Illustrations, Cosmic Cavern and Cosmic Garden, alongside his explorations of sci-fi, animation and pop culture influences. Pieces fromThe JetsonsandThe Flintstonesseries reflect his fascination with society's evolving relationship with technology, while the Pop Apocalypse and Ecological Crisis series embody themes of environmental consciousness and surrealist pop art. Rounding out the collection, Scharf's Art Cars, inspired by hippie movements and the 'on-the-road' spirit of the '70s, add an unconventional, mobile dimension to his work. Opening on June 28, Kenny Scharf'sEmotionalwill run until October 8, 2025, at MAM Shanghai. MAM Shanghai4777 Binjiang AvenuePudong New Area, ShanghaiChina, 200120
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo Approaches End of Asset Cap as OCC Lifts 2015 Consent Order
A significant 2015 consent order was lifted by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which moved Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) closer to removing its $1.95 trillion asset cap. A team of bankers in suits, discussing the success of the company's banking products. Significant regulatory progress has been made under CEO Charles Scharf, as evidenced by the closing of the seventh regulatory enforcement order in 2025 and the thirteenth since 2019. The Federal Reserve's 2018 consent order, which is linked to changes in governance and controls, is the last obstacle. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) has experienced regulatory attention since its 2016 fake accounts scandal, which resulted in billions of dollars in fines and an unprecedented asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve in 2018. This week witnessed the lifting of the OCC order about its former financial subsidiaries. Scharf, who took office in 2019, has implemented measures that experts such as Stephen Biggar of Argus and Chris Marinac of Janney Montgomery Scott believe are significant. After limitations are lifted, the bank plans to expand its market operations and wholesale deposit base. While we acknowledge the potential of WFC to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WFC and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo's CEO Shows Confidence Over $1.95T Asset Cap Potential End
On Wednesday, at the Bernstein Conference, Wells Fargo & Company's WFC CEO Charlie Scharf expressed confidence in the bank's regulatory improvements, signalling that the bank is inching closer to the point of lifting the $1.95 trillion asset cap. In 2018, the Federal Reserve imposed the asset cap on Wells Fargo following the bank's fake accounts scandal, which surfaced in 2016. The asset cap was introduced as a penalty for governance failures, restricting the bank's ability to expand its balance sheet until it demonstrated sufficient improvements in risk management and compliance. During the Bernstein conference, Scharf highlighted Wells Fargo's continued efforts to strengthen its compliance framework. The bank has resolved six consent orders in 2024, bringing the total number of resolved regulatory actions since 2019 to 12. It has also allocated $2 billion annually to enhance risk controls and operational processes. The bank is working to address the final two remaining consent orders. As the bank nears resolution, it is actively preparing to expand its retail deposits business, positioning itself for a new phase of growth once restrictions are lifted. Due to the asset cap, the company is unable to grow to its potential. This is affecting its loan growth. Given that loans are among the largest assets a bank can hold, the lifting of the asset cap will mark a positive turning point for Wells Fargo. This move will allow the bank to offer loans without restrictions, supporting the top-line expansion and positioning the bank for long-term growth. Further, WFC's long-term strategy remains focused on expanding deposits and trading operations, reinforcing growth through continued compliance enhancements and operational improvements. Additionally, the bank is taking a strategy centered on balancing sustainable growth with robust returns, aiming to achieve a return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) of 15% in 2025. The bank's strategy includes organic expansion, with a focus on dividend increases and share buybacks to enhance capital efficiency. To further support its growth objectives, the bank is making significant investments in technology and artificial intelligence, aimed at streamlining operations, improving risk management, and driving future business development. Over the past year, shares of WFC have gained 24.1% compared with the industry's growth of 28.2%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Wells Fargo currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked bank stocks are Westamerica Bancorp WABC and Eastern Bankshares EBC, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WABC's earnings has remained unchanged over the last seven days for 2025. Shares of WABC have gained 0.2% over the past six months. Earnings estimates for EBC have remained unchanged over the past seven days for 2025. In the past six months, EBC shares have gained 10.5%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Westamerica Bancorporation (WABC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (EBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Companies Making Plans for More Tariff Turmoil, Wells Fargo CEO Says
Wells Fargo Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said companies remain in solid shape but are bracing for more potential turmoil from tariffs. "We see two different worlds," Scharf said at the WSJ's Future of Everything event on Thursday.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo's Scharf assured over asset cap's potential end
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf expressed confidence Wednesday that the bank is inching closer to the point it will be freed from the $1.95 trillion asset cap it's operated under for seven years. Just two consent orders remain for Wells, including the growth constraint imposed by the Federal Reserve in 2018. Scharf, speaking Wednesday at a Bernstein conference, seemed to suggest the cap will be lifted sooner than later. 'Our level of confidence in terms of where we are and how far we are down that road is extremely high,' Scharf said. 'We're not done, but we're a hell of a lot closer to the end than the beginning, at this point.' There's been plenty of speculation that 2025 will be the year Wells is freed from the growth restriction. Analyst Ken Usdin noted the bank is 'closer and closer to emerging from what's been a very inward-focused period of time for the company,' as it's overhauled risk management and internal controls to satisfy its various regulatory orders. The regulatory clampdown followed a scandal in which employees of the San Francisco-based lender opened millions of fake customer accounts to hit sales targets. Wells is spending about $2 billion annually on its risk and control agenda, and has simplified its business, exiting some areas with lower returns or lackluster growth rates. The bank has also brought in a number of fresh faces – 150 of the bank's top 220 people are new – establishing the 'proper risk mindset' at the company, Scharf said. Six consent orders have been cleared this year, and 12 since 2019, when Scharf became CEO. Lifting the asset cap and the ultimate consent order are two different decision points for the Fed, and Scharf said he couldn't speak for the central bank's timing. He noted, though, that most of the work completed for other now-closed consent orders is 'foundational' to those that remain. 'Those are just very good proof points for you all to say we're much closer to that order being lifted than…something other than that,' the CEO said. 'We feel very, very confident that it's going to get lifted.' With the removal of that limitation on the horizon, the bank is preparing to pounce on growth in its retail deposits business. Given the fake-accounts scandal, sales practices were 'front and center' among the bank's issues, Scharf said, so the bank had to 'literally scale back almost everything that we were doing to drive growth in the retail system, and then rebuild it from the bottom up.' During a multiyear period, the bank 'didn't have branch [profits and losses], we didn't have sales reporting, we weren't focused on expanding the product set, improving the digital capabilities, because we were so focused on creating the right infrastructure to satisfy the regulators – appropriately so – so that they and we could be comfortable, when we turn these things back on, that we could grow properly,' he said. The closure of the sales practices consent order 'was a hugely important point,' revealing regulators' comfort level, allowing Wells to re-create an environment where the bank can focus on doing more for customers, he said. Wells is particularly focused on primary checking account growth, Scharf said. 'We worked really hard to try and preserve share before; now the focus has gone to, what do we have to do to increase share?' he said. To do that, the bank has changed compensation plans and introduced reporting; simplified its product set and segmented it to serve more and less affluent customers; is spending 'significantly more' on marketing; and is focused on improving its branch experience while bolstering digital capabilities, he said. Each of the bank's segments – consumer and small-business banking, consumer lending, wealth management, commercial banking and corporate and investment banking – 'should be growing faster than they're growing today and have higher returns,' Scharf said. When the asset cap is eventually lifted, 'there's no light switch' related to the bank's growth trajectory, he said. But 'it does lift a cloud that exists around Wells,' as the cap has limited the bank, both tangibly and in mindset. The bank has been constrained in its ability to take commercial deposits, for example, and its corporate and investment bank growth has been limited. 'The scarlet letter goes away, and we're not differentiated from the other companies out there,' and bankers can think more aggressively, Scharf added. A caveat on his growth and earnings assertion: He stressed that the bank is exercising caution with home lending, 'where you can chase short-term returns and chase growth and it can turn out very, very badly for you in the future,' and is more focused on building it as a relationship product; and with auto lending, 'where we're focused on returns, not growth.' Scharf also noted the asset cap isn't a constraint on loan growth, because the demand isn't there and hasn't been for several years. 'When you look at all of the lending that's being done outside of the banking system, why do banks not see the demand, but there's this huge demand that exists outside?' he said, pointing to the growth of private credit, which has ballooned to a $1.6 trillion industry. 'That is an interesting question, which we also think the regulators need to look at, in terms of what is driving that?' Scharf said.
