The chief regulatory affairs officer at Wells Fargo (WFC -0.56%) is stepping down to purse other opportunities, American Banker reported recently.

Sarah Dahlgren, head of regulatory affairs at the bank, reportedly told management about her decision earlier this month. Steve Manzari, head of regulatory engagement at Wells Fargo's consumer bank, will serve as interim head of regulatory relations.

According to Dahlgren's LinkedIn profile, the head of regulatory relations is responsible for the overall strategy for regulatory engagement, regulatory communications in terms of responses to regulators, and making sure the bank follows firmwide requirements. Dahlgren joined the bank in 2018 after serving as a partner for management consultancy McKinsey & Company for two years, and working for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 25 years before that.
Picture of Wells Fargo logo on building.

Image source: wells Fargo.

She came aboard right around the time the Federal Reserve imposed a $1.95 trillion asset cap on Wells Fargo as part of the punishment for the bank's phony-accounts scandal. In 2016, it came to light that employees at Wells Fargo had been opening bank accounts and applying for credit cards on behalf of customers without their authorization.

Since then, it has been a difficult road for the bank in trying to put the scandal behind it. The asset cap, which is currently preventing Wells Fargo from growing its balance sheet, still lingers.

In February, Bloomberg reported that the Federal Reserve apparently approved the bank's proposal for overhauling its risk-management and governance structure, a major step toward getting the asset cap removed. 

With Wells Fargo still in a fragile spot on its regulatory issues, it's always a bit unsettling to see a major regulatory executive leave. But right now there is no reason to suspect Dahlgren left for any reason but to take another job.