Wells Fargo deal brings good news for Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After two weeks of uncertainty over what would happen to Wachovia, the winner of the battle, Wells Fargo has encouraging news for the Queen City. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf says Charlotte will be the East Coast headquarters for the San Francisco-based bank.

In a conference call with Charlotte city, county and business leaders this afternoon, Stumpf, speaking on a conference call, said he expected the Wells deal to acquire Wachovia would be complete by the end of this year.

Stumpf also said he planned to visit Charlotte in the near future for a meeting with Wachovia employees and community leaders.

Earlier Friday, Stumpf told NewsChannel 36 that Charlotte is “legendary” in the banking world for having the finest employees who know how to get the job done.

The comment came during a meeting Friday afternoon at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. Afterwards, Mecklenburg County Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Roberts said she was encouraged and hoped that might mean fewer job cuts than many expected.

Roberts told NewsChannel 36 the meeting was held so that everyone was on the same page with what the Wells-Wachovia deal would mean to the Queen City area.

“If we continue to do that,” she said, “we will weather this crisis in a much better way.”

Roberts said there would be further discussions with Wells Fargo to try and convince bank executives to keep as many jobs in Charlotte as possible.

While Wachovia employees Friday seemed buoyed by the news that it would be a merge with Wells Fargo, many are no doubt still concerned about their own jobs. At the Chamber of Commerce, President Bob Morgan said, “from an employment perspective, I think it still is going to take time to know what the impact will be to Charlotte.”

The Charlotte Observer is citing court documents filed by Citigroup claiming Wachovia suffered a $5 billion dollar run on its deposits two weeks ago Friday, touching off a weekend-long crisis that nearly led to Wachovia’s collapse.

The feds stepped in and pushed an earlier offer by Citi to takeover Wachovia. That touched off the period of uncertainty that was only fueled last Friday when Wells Fargo surfaced with a better offer.

Wachovia accepted the Wells offer and Citigroup went into court to fight it. A truce followed so Citi and Wells Fargo could discuss carving up Wachovia but that came to an end Thursday night when Citi bowed out, leaving all of Wachovia to Wells Fargo.