Scott Powell to Succeed Derek Flowers as Wells Fargo CRO

Wells Fargo and Barclays are overhauling their risk management leadership as long-standing chief risk officers step down from their posts. Derek Flowers is set to retire from Wells Fargo in mid-January 2027 after nearly thirty years with the firm, while Matthew Stevens has retired from Barclays after 34 years at the bank.

The executive transitions come as major financial institutions recalibrate their operational and risk controls.

Scott Powell Takes the Reins at Wells Fargo as Derek Flowers Retires

Derek Flowers concludes a nearly thirty-year tenure at Wells Fargo, having most recently managed the bank’s strategic execution and operations office. His previous portfolio included oversight of credit, counterparty, and market risk as chief credit and market risk officer. Scott Powell, who has served as the bank’s chief operating officer since late 2019 and is a member of the operating committee, will take over the chief risk officer duties in mid-January 2027. Powell brings extensive prior experience, having previously served as chief executive officer of both Santander Holdings USA and Santander Consumer USA Holdings, alongside senior roles at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. Wells Fargo has not yet named a successor for Powell’s previous operating officer position.

Phil Beale Returns to Barclays Following Matthew Stevens Retirement

Across the Atlantic, Barclays appointed Phil Beale as its new chief risk officer following the retirement of Matthew Stevens on September 11, after a 34-year career with the bank. Beale returns to Barclays after spending 12 years at the institution until 2022, where his final role was chief risk officer for its business bank, mortgages, and ventures. During his time away from Barclays, Beale served as deputy group chief risk officer at Aldermore Bank.

Societe Generale Restructures Global Markets Across London, New York, and Japan

Societe Generale is executing a sweeping leadership reorganization within its global markets division under sole global head Hatem Mustapha. Salim Nemouchi has been appointed head of global markets for the UK, effective in November, while retaining his concurrent duties as global head of prime services. Nemouchi succeeds Albert Loo, who relocates to Paris to maintain his responsibilities as global head of financial institutions coverage within global banking and advisory, alongside his role as head of investor coverage. To fill Nemouchi’s prior Americas positions, Natasha Dadlani and Stephane Dahome have been named co-heads of equities and equity derivatives Americas, reporting to Sylvain Cartier and operating out of New York. Dahome joined Societe Generale in 2011 and most recently served as head of linear trading within equity derivatives Americas, while Dadlani joined in 2017 and most recently led equity derivatives and quantitative investment strategy sales.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Tomoyuki Sasi assumed the role of head of global markets for Japan on September 1. Sasi succeeds Marc Saffon, who transitioned to group country head for Japan on the same date. Sasi reports functionally to Mohamed Braham, head of global markets for Asia-Pacific and deputy global head of fixed income and currencies, and locally to Koji Shimamoto, president of SG Securities Japan. Sasi brings past experience from senior global markets roles at Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan, Deutsche Securities, and Credit Suisse. Benoit Grisoni also took over as deputy head of French retail banking, private banking, and insurance on October 1, reporting to Lubomira Rochet and the group's chief operating officer while maintaining his position as chief executive officer of the BoursoBank online subsidiary.

Wealth Management and Trading Desks Adjust Leadership Rosters

Blythe Masters is leaving her post as group CEO of New Zealand-based wealth management platform FNZ. Stephen Welch will assume the responsibilities of the group CEO alongside his new appointment as executive group chair while the FNZ board conducts a search for a permanent successor. Masters, a prominent industry figure recognized for pioneering the credit transfer market during a 27-year career at JP Morgan, previously served as chief executive officer of Digital Asset Holdings and as a founding partner of fintech-focused private equity group Motive Partners.

Citigroup recruited Andrei Kazantsev in September as global head of foreign exchange exotics trading, based in London. Kazantsev reports to Patrick Green, global head of foreign exchange options trading, after spending 15 years at Goldman Sachs, where he most recently served as global head of foreign exchange flow exotics and structured products. Meanwhile, Two Sigma appointed Ian Jackson as its chief risk officer, following a transition period alongside outgoing chief risk officer Satish Ramakrishna, who is retiring after eight years at Two Sigma and a 30-year industry career. Jackson joins Two Sigma from BNY, where he previously served as head of securities finance principal trading.