The fourth-largest US lender's net income rose to $5.08bn, or $1.43 per share. That compares with $3.45bn, or 86c per share, a year earlier. Under CEO Charlie Scharf's leadership, the bank has undergone a multiyear effort to fix compliance problems from a fake accounts scandal that erupted in 2016. The US Federal Reserve imposed a $1.95-trillion asset cap in 2018 that prevents Wells Fargo from growing until regulators deem it has fixed failings in its governance and risk management. Scharf said last year the asset cap was curtailing the bank's ability to take in more deposits and expand its trading business, two potential growth areas for Wells. It was reported in November that Wells Fargo was in the last stages of a process to pass regulatory tests to lift the asset cap that could happen as early as the first half of 2025. The compliance work has been the bank's top priority for years, with Scharf citing the closing of consent orders as signs of progress.