Wells Fargo & Company (WFC.US) mimics competitors' layout for options clearing, and may see large market makers like Citadel joining in by 2026.

With the increasing demand from customers for options clearing services, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC.US) Global Markets department is actively laying out its strategy in this area. Wells Fargo & Company is following in the footsteps of industry peers such as Bank of America Corp (BAC.US) and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS.US), using its own funds to provide clearing guarantee services for customer options trading, playing a key role in risk absorption between customers and clearing houses. However, the market share it can ultimately occupy remains to be seen. It is understood that this plan is still in the early stages of development; it is worth mentioning that as early as June of this year, Wells Fargo & Company had already lifted the regulatory burden that previously limited its asset size to below $1.95 trillion. DJ Langis, co-head of the equity business at the bank's Global Markets department, stated in an interview that the bank had already started studying options clearing in the early stages before the asset cap was lifted in 2025. He added that Wells Fargo & Company is reshaping its securities sales and trading business to better serve market makers, and this effort has led to the expansion of its team. Large market makers such as Citadel Securities and Jane Street rely on clearing brokers to handle the settlement process of their trades. It has been reported that these market makers are scheduled to start clearing at Wells Fargo & Company in the second half of 2026.