Sarah Wells
Assistant General Counsel, Executive Director @Wells Fargo
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WORK HISTORY
Assistant General Counsel, Executive Director @Wells Fargo
San Francisco, CA, US
Senior in-house counsel providing enterprise-level legal guidance to consumer banking and paymentsbusinesses, advising executive and product leadership on regulatory risk, product development, strategicpartnerships, and critical customer issues. Serves as a trusted legal partner across the lifecycle of credit card and payment products, balancing regulatory compliance, innovation, and business objectives in a highly regulated environment.Consumer Regulation: Advises executive and product leadership on escalated regulatory compliancematters across the marketing, origination, and servicing of consumer credit and payment products. Provides interpretation and application of complex federal and state consumer protection laws in high-risk,high-visibility business scenarios.Product Development: Embedded legal partner for the design, development, and launch of payment cardsand product features, supporting initiatives from early concept through customer deployment and ongoingservicing. Payments & Partnerships: Serves as primary legal advisor to Partnership, Loyalty, and Strategy leadership,supporting bank, network, and third-party relationships tied to digital innovation and customerengagement. Marketing & Disclosures: Reviews and advises on marketing, origination, and customer communications,ensuring alignment with truth-in-advertising standards, unfair and deceptive practices requirements,accessibility obligations, and privacy expectations. Risk Remediation: Acts as legal sponsor for large-scale customer remediation and risk managementinitiatives, identifying compliance breakdowns and advising on corrective action strategies. Enterprise Leadership: Provides leadership beyond core legal responsibilities through participation infirm-wide regulatory, risk, AI, and emerging technology working groups. Holds formal leadership roles within the legal department, contributing to governance, inclusion initiatives, and professional responsibility efforts.
EDUCATION
University of the Pacific - Eberhardt School of Business
B.S., Business Administration -- Finance
University of California, Davis - School of Law
J.D., Law
SKILLS
ABOUT SARAH WELLS
Experienced legal leader with deep expertise supporting commercial, product, and client-facing teams in thebanking and payments sector. Brings a strong ability to balance legal risk with business objectives, advising oncomplex regulatory frameworks, contracts, and enterprise initiatives. Recognized for collaborating cross-functionally to help organizations scale responsibly in regulated environments.Regulatory Mastery: Recognized subject matter expert in state and federal consumer protection and financialservices regulation, with a deep understanding of how regulators interpret, examine, and enforce complianceobligations. Brings a regulator-informed perspective that helps businesses anticipate risk rather than react to it.Product Lifecycle Counsel: Provides end-to-end legal guidance across the full product lifecycle, from ideationand launch through servicing, remediation, wind-down, or sale. Known for partnering closely with business andproduct teams to develop practical, compliant solutions that support growth and innovation.Emerging Technology Leadership: Actively engaged in high-impact, forward-looking initiatives involvingcustomer-facing AI, automated decision-making tools, and digital assets, helping organizations navigateevolving legal and regulatory expectations. Brings credibility and judgment to complex, on-trend issues shapingthe future of financial services.Multi-Disciplinary Counsel: Operates seamlessly across legal disciplines, including contract drafting andnegotiation, product counseling, marketing review, policy development, risk and compliance support, auditresponse, and pre-litigation strategy. Valued for the ability to step into multiple roles without losing strategicfocus.
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