By Lalita Clozel and Andrew Ackerman 

WASHINGTON -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Timothy Sloan is expected to appear solo before the House Financial Services Committee on March 12, people familiar with the matter said, as the committee reviews the bank's consumer-abuse scandals.

Mr. Sloan would be the first bank chief to face House Democrats who took over the Financial Services Committee in the new Congress. The executive is also set to testify a second time on April 10, along with the heads of other large U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.

The hearings are the latest sign that Democrats, with their House majority, plan to pursue questions about the financial industry.

The April hearing would mark the first time since shortly after the financial crisis that chief executives of big banks have testified together in front of Congress.

The committee and banks have been negotiating the terms of the appearances, but formal invitations have yet to be sent to the banks.

House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) has pledged to review the activities of the banking sector, including Wells Fargo.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Ms. Waters.

The Wall Street Journal and other media previously reported that the heads of the largest banks were expected to testify before the panel.

The banking industry is more closely regulated, better capitalized and healthier than a decade ago. But policy makers have disagreed on the extent to which financial rules put in place after the crisis should be eased. Republicans and some Democrats have pressed to relax restrictions on bank operations that they think could boost economic growth. Democrats generally want to maintain limits on the biggest banks and review the ability of lower-income people to get access to credit.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp., known as custodian banks, also will likely join the second hearing. Representatives of the other banks complained the committee didn't originally plan to include the custodian banks, some of the people said.

Write to Lalita Clozel at lalita.clozel.@wsj.com and Andrew Ackerman at andrew.ackerman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2019 12:53 ET (17:53 GMT)