Wells Fargo CEO: US banking is 'extremely strong' but expect more market volatility

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said on Tuesday that the banking sector was "very strong," but added that he expected more volatility as market participants assess the health of financial institutions.

There's absolutely no point in talking about regional banks as a whole," Scharf said. "Unfortunately, there's going to be a lot of volatility and turmoil," he added, "and the majority of the banks we watch are still very strong."

He doesn't expect more bank failures like the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank. Consumers and businesses are in good financial shape despite the market turmoil, Scharf said.

Peter Orszag, chief executive of Lazard's financial advisory unit, called on officials to signal their intention to provide a six-month guarantee for uninsured bank deposits, echoing moves during the 2008 financial crisis.

Orszag, who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama administration, said the moves would boost confidence and deter depositors from withdrawing money from smaller banks.

Lazard was an adviser to First Republic Bank before it was taken over by regulators and sold to JPMorgan on Monday.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) should boost bank depositor protection to $25 million per person, per bank, from the current $250,000 per person.

Adding guarantees to bank accounts used for business purposes is a promising potential reform, the FDIC said on Monday.

"I'm all for raising the FDIC premium level, but I'm not going to go very far," Scharf said. "The insurance exists, it's not government insurance, it's the rest of the banking industry coming together, and the banks don't Reason to unconditionally subsidize problems in all banks across the system."