Incoming Democratic majorities will prompt dealmaking urgency, said Wells corporate and investment banking CEO Fernando Rivas, who also discussed the bank’s approach to AI infrastructure financing.

The CEO of corporate and investment banking at Wells Fargo expects a “now or never” view is likely to spur merger and acquisition activity over the next year.

Fernando Rivas, speaking Thursday at the BancAnalysts Association of Boston annual conference, pointed to this week’s midterm election results as an indication the more permissive regulatory attitude toward deals may disappear in two years.

Democrats on Tuesday won control of Congress, which some analysts said could bring an end to the business- and bank-friendly policies the Trump administration has advanced.

At the outset of President Donald Trump’s second term, which portended a friendlier environment for dealmaking, “there was very clearly a view of, it may be now or never” – something Rivas said he hadn’t seen in his 30-year career.

The Biden-era Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department “could very easily come back in [20]28, and then that could be there for four years, could be for eight years, could be for 12 years,” Rivas said.

Under the Biden administration, those federal agencies applied more scrutiny to mergers and market concentration.

The outcome of the midterms is likely to reignite urgency around merger and acquisition opportunities, Rivas said.

“That's going to come back to the forefront of the conversation,” Rivas said. “There is an opportunity to get something done now that you may never have the opportunity to do.

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