Richard Yorke

Despite currently being the largest bank in the world by market capitalisation, Wells Fargo isn’t resting on its laurels. Based in the United States—and one of the ‘big four’ banks in the country—in recent years Wells Fargo has made push to expand its reach globally.

Now with offices in 36 different countries, the company is also looking to the growing Asian market, particularly in the corporate banking sector. It is an area that Head of International Group at Wells Fargo, Richard Yorke, is very experienced in.

"I joined Wells Fargo after 20 years at HSBC," Richard explains. "My last job was CEO of HSBC China, which was based in Shanghai." During Richard’s tenure at HSBC, the company made an aggressive expansion on the Chinese mainland, and now has more than 170 outlets across the country. In 2010, Richard decided to leave HSBC for Wells Fargo, where he had previously spent a two years back in the 90s on a secondment.

"For me, there were two things that drew me to Wells Fargo," Richard says. "One was the opportunity to work for an outstanding company with a culture that I really like. It has a very collegiate, teamwork-oriented culture. And secondly, it was an opportunity to build an international business within the framework of the new regulatory environment that we have seen since the financial crisis—to build a business for a bank that has an outstanding reputation. It’s really one of the last interesting opportunities left in banking on the international front, to be able to be part of the team that builds the international business for Wells Fargo."