By Saabira Chaudhuri and Angela Chen
Wells Fargo Co. has named a former member of the Federal
Reserve's Board of Governors to its board of directors.
Elizabeth A. Duke will join the San Francisco lender's board
effective the start of next year and will also serve on its risk
committee.
The move increases the size of Wells Fargo's board to 15.
A former community banker, Ms. Duke was the chief operating
officer of Virginia-based TowneBank, before her time at the
Fed.
During her tenure as a banker, she was also chief executive
officer of Bank of Tidewater, and served as an executive vice
president at SouthTrust Bank and Wachovia Bank, all three of which
are now part of Wells Fargo.
"Betsy Duke is an excellent addition to our board," said Wells
Fargo CEO John Stumpf. "She brings in-depth, firsthand
understanding of community banking and has more than 30 years of
experience leading banking operations in markets where Wells Fargo
does business."
Despite being the nation's largest bank by market
capitalization, Wells Fargo is often classified as a regional bank
by analysts, and has remained focused on generating revenue from
its bread-and-butter businesses of commercial and consumer lending
as rivals pulled away from some of those businesses after the
financial crisis.
Ms. Duke served as a member of the Fed's board from August 2008
to August 2013, during which time she chaired the agency's
committee on consumer and community affairs and worked as a member
of its committee on bank supervision and regulation, among other
committees.
Ms. Duke was also the first woman to serve as the chair of the
American Bankers Association in 2004. She served on the board of
the ABA from 1999 to 2006.
Most recently, Ms. Duke was executive-in-residence at her alma
mater, Old Dominion University.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com and
Angela Chen at angela.chen@dowjones.com
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