Federal regulators moved to lift an unprecedented punishment that had handcuffed growth at Wells Fargo, a milestone in the bank’s efforts to repair its tarnished reputation after its fake-accounts scandal erupted nearly a decade ago. For the first time in seven years, the fourth-largest U.S. bank will be able to grow its balance sheet and redirect resources it had been pouring into efforts to fix itself. It will once again have the freedom to gather deposits, increase loans to companies and households and grow its Wall Street businesses or even do deals. The removal of the asset cap “marks a pivotal milestone” for Wells Fargo, said Chief Executive Charlie Scharf. The bank said it would give full-time employees a special $2,000 award. The asset-cap removal “reflects the substantial progress the bank has made in addressing its deficiencies,” the Fed said. Still, other provisions from the 2018 order “will remain in place until the bank satisfies the requirements.” The regulatory work has been all-consuming for the bank. The operating committee has for years started its meetings with sometimes hours long reviews of where the bank stood on its regulatory work. Now, executives will have the freedom to focus on broader operations and strategy. The bank can make more loans and keep them on its balance sheet. It will seek to expand its branded credit-card business and to draw wealth-management clients to other services at the bank. Wells Fargo also has more room to focus on the Wall Street businesses, such as dealmaking and trading, that Scharf has sought to grow. The bank plans to expand head count in the corporate and investment bank, where it has tapped Fernando Rivas as head and hired dozens of senior bankers. It will also likely cut costs. The bank has hired an army of 10,000 employees across its risk and control groups to address the regulatory orders. Last year, it spent roughly $2.5 billion more in those groups compared with 2018.