The Wells Fargo board of directors elected Karen B. Peetz, retired president of The Bank of New York Mellon, and Ronald L. Sargent, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Staples, as new independent directors.

Chairman of the Board Stephen Sanger commented, “We are very pleased to add these two exceptional leaders to our board. Karen will provide particular expertise in financial services, client services, and regulatory matters, while Ron brings deep experience in consumer retail and marketing, as well as in the management of a large workforce serving customers globally through a variety of channels. These new perspectives will make an important contribution to the Board’s oversight of Wells Fargo and help ensure that we continue to move in the right direction to restore the trust of our customers and create value for our shareholders.”

Peetz will serve on the board’s Finance Committee and Sargent will serve on the board’s Governance and Nominating Committee. Both new directors will also serve on the board’s Human Resources Committee.

She has 35 years of large-bank experience. She served as president of Bank of New York Mellon from January 2013 until her retirement in December 2016. In this position, she oversaw the bank’s global client management and regional management, its treasury services business, and its regulatory oversight functions. After joining the company in 1998, Peetz served in leadership roles including vice chairman, senior executive vice president, and chief executive officer of the Financial Markets and Treasury Services Group. Before joining BNY Mellon, Peetz spent 16 years with JPMorgan Chase in various management, sales and corporate lending positions. She serves on the Boards of Johns Hopkins University and the Global Lyme Alliance.

Sargent spent more than 27 years at Staples in various senior leadership positions, including as chairman, president, and CEO. Sargent joined Staples from Kroger in 1989, where he spent 10 years in executive positions of increasing responsibility. Sargent serves on the boards of Five Below and Kroger.