Traditional commercial banks (commercial banks news) have long had a love-hate relationship with investment banking (investment banking news). There was a day when the top investment banks were voicing all kinds of fear that commercial banks would leverage their lending relationships to win more investment banking services. Those fears are not discussed much these day. For a while, it seemed like commercial-focused banks wanted to exit the business.

Recall then-Bank of America (BAC) CEO's comment not too long ago, "I've had all the fun I can stand in investment banking at the moment" (Ken Lewis news). He suggested he would exit the business, but in the end he couldn't. He ended up expanding. The appeal is just too strong.

So it is with Wells Fargo (WFC), whose CEO once said that investment banking was "incompatible" with its consumer culture (Wells Fargo news). According to Bloomberg, the bank is now bent on expanding its share of the equity underwriting business. I doubt JPMorgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are quaking, but it has a lot to build on and could emerge a smaller company underwriting power. It'll not doubt get its share of non-lead underwriter deals. 

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