Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (XTRA:DBK)  Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing has signaled he's ready to move past years of turnaround efforts and consider deals to grow the bank. He'll probably have to look outside the U.S., since the Federal Reserve views its progress as far from done. Senior Executives at the German lender indicated their interest in buying Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) 's custody unit to Fed officials late last year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Fed was opposed to the purchase because Deutsche Bank hadn't made enough progress in improving controls and compliance, despite being under confidential agreements with the central bank to fix the issues, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks weren't public. The Fed remains opposed to Deutsche Bank making acquisitions in the U.S., the people said, marking another hurdle for Sewing, who's looking to pivot to growth after years of shrinking the firm and grappling with billion-dollar misconduct fines. While the bank is still struggling with outstanding legal and regulatory issues, it reported its best first half since 2015 on the back of a trading boom.

“After conducting due diligence we determined internally not to submit a complete bid,” a Deutsche Bank spokesman said in an emailed statement. The Fed declined to comment on the discussions, which haven't been previously reported. Wells Fargo also declined to comment.