Finance

One way or another a new boss at Wells Fargo is likely

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, testifies at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in Dirksen Building, September 20, 2016.
Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is going to have to leave his gig, it's just a matter of when.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren lambasted Stumpf on Wednesday, calling for his resignation during his Capitol Hill appearance, but along with those calls for him to quit is a simple reality: He's likely out in 2018, no matter what. That year, he turns 65, and under company rules that is when senior executives usually leave the bank, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

So one way or another, Wells Fargo will likely be kicking off the hunt for a new CEO at some point in the next 12 months. When that search begins is likely to be influenced in part by Capitol Hill, but also by shareholders in the bank.

One prominent analyst has an idea about who, or at least from where, Wells Fargo's next CEO could come.

"JPMorgan Chase has been a proving ground for CEOs all over the country," said Rafferty Capital banking analyst Dick Bove. Specifically, Bove suggested that JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank CEO Daniel Pinto or consumer and community banking CEO Gordon Smith could take the lead role at Wells Fargo when Stumpf either retires or resigns.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.

Bove said he still believes Stumpf will make it to retirement, but acknowledged: "His performance" before the Senate Banking Committee this week "was abysmal."

If Stumpf resigns, it would create a void within Wells Fargo that likely would not be filled by a current Wells Fargo executive, another industry source suggested to CNBC.

Timothy Sloan, a Wells Fargo banker who was promoted from the CFO role to president and COO, was once considered a likely candidate to replace Stumpf. But the industry source suggested that because of the tarnish on the bank's brand in the wake of its unauthorized accounts scandal, it would be difficult to promote an insider to the CEO role now.

Bove suggested that if the bank decides to replace Stumpf sooner rather than later, it may try to bring back the popular former CEO Richard Kovacevich as temporary chairman until a permanent CEO is found. Kovacevich is 72.