The appointment comes as the bank’s wealth management unit has come under fire for reportedly overlooking females in senior roles.

Following Jay Welker’s decision to retire last November, Wells Fargo & Co has appointed finance veteran Julia Wellborn to head its private wealth management division.

In the new role, Wellborn will lead the private bank and oversee wealth management at Abbot Downing, which serves ultra-high net worth families and individuals.

Wellborn joins from Comerica Bank, where she was head of wealth management. Prior to that, she was president of the North Texas region for Wachovia, which Wells Fargo bought at the height of the financial crisis, completing the roughly $12.7 billion deal in early 2009.

Currently based in Dallas, Wellborn will relocate to New York City and is expected to start at the end of August.

Head of WIM Jonathan Weiss said the private bank and Abbot Downing were strategically important and offered “tremendous opportunity for long-term growth".

“Bringing these teams under Julia’s leadership will allow them to collaborate more closely and result in the best service and offerings for our clients,” he said.

Welker announced his retirement in November after 15 years at the helm and left the post in March.

During his tenure, the wealth management unit of the country’s third largest bank had received complaints of gender bias and women being passed over for executive roles. The Wall Street Journal last year reported speaking to several senior female staff at the division who had met in Scottsdale, Arizona, to air the problem. The bank has since said that it is making an internal investigation into their concerns.

Following a fake accounts scandal that cost the bank $1 billion in fines and misconduct over its mortgage lending practices, it has been keen to change the culture and bring in a fresh crop of leadership talent.