Wells Fargo has $1.69 trillion in total assets at the end of the first quarter, up 3.6% sequentially and up 6.1% year over year. This bank controls 10.4% of the total assets in the banking system.
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The banking regulators seem to be ignoring these big banks, or at least not encouraging them to shrink.
When the New York Fed published its Primary Dealer List on April 18, Wells Fargo was added. That means all four of the big banks are now primary dealers, putting their firms’ capital at risk to underwrite U.S. debt and conduct market-making activities. This seems to conflict with the Volcker Rule intended to limit proprietary trading.