Bank of America Corp. was similarly embroiled in legal fights almost a decade ago when it installed its former general counsel, Brian Moynihan, as CEO. He’s still at the helm.

“Putting Parker in place, albeit on a temporary basis, makes sense,” said veteran bank analyst Charles Peabody. “The pressures were such that it was inevitable.”

Sloan was promoted to the top job in October 2016 when John Stumpf stepped down amid intense blowback over the revelation that employees had opened millions of fake accounts to meet sales goals. Yet the successor struggled to make headway in improving the company’s reputation as additional problems emerged in other divisions, and as politicians, regulators and investors intensified their critiques.

Last year, Wells Fargo was dealt an unprecedented blow from the Federal Reserve as then-Chair Janet Yellen’s final act: The bank can’t grow assets beyond their level at the end of 2017 until it addresses missteps to the regulator’s satisfaction. In January, the lender said it’s planning to operate under the cap through the end of 2019, rather than just the first half. In the meantime, it’s accruing billions of dollars in fines and settlement costs. That includes $1 billion last year to federal regulators for consumer mistreatment and $575 million to 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Buffett’s Sympathy

Supporters including board members credited Sloan for unearthing and fixing past problems, tightening internal oversight and taking other steps to address regulators’ concerns and improve earnings.

“I’m very empathetic to anybody that walks into a big problem at a very, very, very large and politically sensitive institution where you’ve got maybe 250 or so thousand people and the bad acts of one of them can reflect on you,” Buffett said Thursday in a wide-ranging interview with CNBC from a benefit luncheon in Texas.

Sloan repeatedly traveled to Capitol Hill to give lawmakers updates on his progress and face tough questions. At one point, Warren summed up their concerns: “His hands are too dirty from overseeing years of scams and scandals.”

That pressure kept mounting. At his most recent appearance before the House Financial Services Committee this month, the panel’s chair, Democrat Maxine Waters, said he should be denied a bonus and fired. Then, as the session concluded, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued an unusual statement, saying it continues to be disappointed with the bank. Fed Chair Jerome Powell also made a similar point this month, saying the company had “deep problems” and that the central bank wasn’t yet satisfied with efforts to address them.

‘About Damn Time’