Wells Fargo hires regulatory relations head

Wells Fargo has recruited Sarah Dahlgren to the new position of head of regulatory relations for the bank.

Dahlgren will join Wells Fargo on March 12, and will be based in New York. She was most recently a partner in the risk practice at McKinsey & Company. She will report to Mike Loughlin, Wells Fargo’s chief risk officer, until his successor is named. Loughlin announced his retirement in January.

In her new role, Dahlgren will be responsible for oversight of regulatory relations for Wells Fargo’s corporate risk organization. Her objective will be an organized and cohesive approach to working with supervisory officials at the company’s federal regulators, and she will work with colleagues to co-ordinate efforts with regulators in other jurisdictions, according to the bank.

‘Dahlgren will be instrumental in leading the company’s efforts to have a sustained, proactive dialogue around risk, controls and compliance, and will work across Wells Fargo to ensure the company meets the regulatory commitments it makes,’ officials say in a statement.

Dahlgren joined McKinsey in 2016. According to the firm’s website, her work there has included supporting several US and foreign institutions in comprehensive capital analysis and review preparations and advising several US banks about their response to feedback on their 2015 resolution plans.

A spokesperson at McKinsey declined to comment.

Before her time at McKinsey, Dahlgren spent 25 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, most recently as executive vice president and head of financial institution supervision. In that position, she was responsible for overseeing many of the largest banks operating in the US and developing new supervisory policies and procedures.

‘Wells Fargo is focused on transforming our risk management practices and we are committed to being very engaged and completely transparent with our regulators so they have a full understanding of the progress we are making in building a stronger organization,’ Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan says in a statement. ‘Hiring a leader with Sarah’s background is another important step in strengthening our risk infrastructure and organization.’