In a rare move, a top U.S. bank regulator has said it will vet scandal-plagued Wells Fargo & Co.'s choice for its next chief executive, and at least one former general counsel-turned-law professor thinks that is a good idea.

Joseph Otting, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, told a U.S. Senate committee hearing on May 15 that he would use special legal powers to review any proposed candidate. Otting said his agency remains disappointed in the bank's progress on fixing risk management and governance problems that led to a number of customer abuse scandals, including the opening of millions of fake accounts along with more recent abuses in its mortgage and auto lending businesses.

A spokesman for Wells Fargo, which was not represented at the hearing, did not provide comment to news media. General counsel Allen Parker is filling in as acting CEO since the abrupt resignation under pressure of former CEO Tim Sloan in March.