S&P Global Ratings upgraded the issuer credit rating of Wells Fargo & Co. to 'A-' from 'BBB+', maintaining a stable outlook, while affirming the short-term issuer credit rating at 'A-2' and the 'A+/A-1' issuer credit ratings on several core operating subsidiaries. The upgrade reflects Wells Fargo's significant progress in risk management, culture and oversight, along with improving profitability and deepening client relationships, and follows an improvement in the group stand-alone credit profile to 'a' from 'a-', with S&P now incorporating one notch of uplift for additional loss-absorbing capacity support. Since 2019 the bank has terminated 14 consent orders, the Federal Reserve removed the asset cap in June 2025, and regulators terminated another consent order in March 2026, leaving no outstanding consent orders, though a formal agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on financial crimes risk management and anti-money laundering controls remains in place. Wells Fargo raised its medium-term return on tangible common equity target to 17%-18% in the third quarter of 2025 from 15%, and ROTCE reached 16.1% as of June 30, 2026, up from 14.4% a year earlier, while assets rose 15% year over year and loans grew 12% through the second quarter of 2026. Its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 10.3% as of June 30, 2026, down from 11.1% a year earlier but within its 10.0%-10.5% target range, and management said proposed changes to the U.S. risk-based capital framework and GSIB surcharge could reduce risk-weighted assets by 7%, equivalent to nearly 80 basis points of CET1. In September 2026, S&P also upgraded Rithm Capital Corp. to 'B+' from 'B' and Capital One Financial Corp. to 'BBB+' from 'BBB', both with stable outlooks.
Capital One Financial Corporation
Rithm Capital Corp.
Wells Fargo & Company
S&P Global Inc