Wells Fargo Executives Plot Life After $36 Billion Punishment

The buzz is building inside Wells Fargo & Co.: The bank — once the envy of the industry — could finally be allowed to grow again.

Seven years into a US cap on assets, executives are awaiting a verdict on whether they’ve done enough to appease the Federal Reserve to get the restriction lifted. By one measure, it has cost the lender more than $36 billion in profits, easily making it one of the harshest corporate sanctions in a generation.