Panic in the financial markets over the coronavirus pandemic has squeezed Wells Fargo’s business up to the very limits of the Fed’s asset cap of nearly $2 trillion. First came the flood of new deposits as investors sold risky assets and converted those holdings to cash to store in their bank accounts; then came the rush of businesses seeking loans, much of which will go to paying their employees during the economic shutdown.

Senior Wells Fargo executives are now talking with Fed officials about a short-term pause in the penalties — just long enough to let the bank handle more loan volume, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Bank executives first approached the Fed about lifting the growth restrictions three weeks ago, before the small business aid program was created. The discussions have intensified over the past week as the problems processing the avalanche of loan requests have grown, the people said. (Lenders’ websites have often crashed, or bankers simply don’t have any advice for the borrowers on how to proceed.)

Fed officials had earlier said they would remove the restrictions only after Wells Fargo demonstrated that it had improved itself enough that its customers would be safe from further harm — something that has not happened yet.

The two people said they did not know when the Fed would make a decision.

A Wells Fargo spokesman and a Federal Reserve spokeswoman each declined to comment.