Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) CEO Charlie Scharf said Tuesday he sees no cracks in the U.S. banking system, calling the credit landscape “exceptionally good,” even after recent loan losses caused some regional banks to record writedowns.
Credit is “not the issue right now,” he said at the Economic Club of New York, while warning the environment could get “worse at some point” in the future.
His remarks come after several regional lenders, including Zions Bancorporation (ZION) and Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL), disclosed bad debt and alleged loan fraud in recent weeks, prompting a brief selloff last week across the broader group.
Over the weekend, Carlyle Group (CG) CEO Harvey Schwartz said turbulence in credit markets remains on his “worry list,” though he doesn’t yet see evidence of serious cracks in the economy.
Last week, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which took a $170M charge-off tied to its exposure to defunct subprime auto lender Tricolr Holdings, said that a visible credit issue likely signals there are other hidden problems lurking elsewhere.
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) was among the big banks last week kicking off earnings season, with its profit topping Wall Street expectations in a strong showing for the first results since the Federal Reserve lifted its asset cap on the bank.