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SARAH W. HARGROVE
504 Spring Lane
Wyndmoor, PA 19038
USA
E-mail: sarah.hargrove@verizon.net
Tel: 215 -836-5232 or 910-295-6358
Mobile: (001) 267-934-9529
KEY QUALIFICATIONS
Ms. Hargrove is a seasoned financial executive with over 30 years of experience in commercial and
investment banking, government, and international consulting. As Secretary of Banking for the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was the primary regulator responsible for the safety, soundness, and
regulatory compliance of the Commonwealth’s state-charted banks, trust companies, savings associations
and credit unions with aggregate assets of $90 billion. Since leaving government service in 1995, Ms.
Hargrove has been providing general financial advisory services to banks and bank supervisors in Central
Europe, the Middle East and Asia. As a CFA she has knowledge and experience in a number of financial
disciplines, including developing and providing training, in the following areas:
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Asset and Liability Management (ALM)/Treasury Management
Bank Supervision
Basel II
Corporate Governance
Derivatives
Financial Management
Investment Banking
Investment Management
Risk Management
GOVERNMENT CONSULTING
Central Bank of Jordan, Banking Supervision Department (BSD), Amman
Ms. Hargrove developed and delivered a week-long training workshop on Risk Management, including
case studies, for bank supervisors and inspectors and other CBJ staff. Working with BSD staff she
developed an Early Warning System, including an early warning statistical model that flags banks for
potential downgrade, and designed supervisory screens for off-site monitoring of the banks in Jordan. In
addition, she developed BSD’s first Strategic Plan for its use in prioritizing its goals and objectives and
establishing an action plan to enhance its oversight of the banking system. As part of a key objective
emanating from the plan, she developed the Corporate Governance Handbook for Bank Directors for
directors’ use in fulfilling their responsibilities, and a Corporate Governance Workshop to train directors
in the principles of good governance. (Funded by USAID through Chemonics; August 2002 to present)
Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), Government of Canada, Ottawa
Ms Hargrove has performed studies entitled Assessment of CCC’s Credit Program and Future Borrowing
and Capital Requirements, and Independent Risk Assessment and Governance Review of CCC for the
Board of Directors of CCC and the Government’s Department of Finance, respectively. (In conjunction
with IFC Ltd., Ottawa; June-September, 2004)
Ministry of Finance, Fiscal Policy Office, Government of Thailand, Bangkok
As part of a broader Restructuring of Specialized Financial Institutions (SFIs), Ms. Hargrove’s work on
Component 1: Rationalization of and Corporate Governance for SFIs involved performing corporate
governance audits of four SFIs wholly or partially owned by the Government of Thailand. The audits
were based on international best practices and considerable research was undertaken to determine those
best practices, providing the basis for recommending changes to their governance regimes. In addition,
Sarah W. Hargrove
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she provided training to the Fiscal Policy Office staff in principles of good corporate governance and
bank analysis. (Funded by ADB through Deloitte Touche/Aries Group; April, 2001-May, 2002)
TurkExIm Bank, Government of Turkey, Ankara
Ms. Hargrove provided training and technical assistance in risk management and ALM as part of an
Institutional Strengthening Project for Turk Eximbank. Her work included diagnosis of the bank’s current
risk management process and proposal of remedial measures for deficiencies identified in existing
policies and processes, and appropriate risk tolerance limits for all identified risks in cooperation with
management. She helped establish risk management standards and an organization structure required by
new BRSA regulation. A Benchmark Analysis using EDC (Canada) was performed to compare
operations and performance for best practices benchmarking. Other activities included: examination of
RiskMetrics compared to the standardized approach for determining capital required to support market
risk; establishment of principles for credit risk measurement of financial institutions including qualitative
and quantitative analyses and an internal rating system consistent with ratings of other credits for
aggregation purposes, expanding existing risk evaluation methods to include funding considerations (eg.
volatile funds dependency); cost of funds and spread analyses; interest rate risk; and earnings volatility.
(Funded by World Bank through BearingPoint; January-December, 2001)
World Bank Treasury, Financial Products and Services, Banking and Debt Management Group
Ms. Hargrove was a subcontractor on the Distance Learning Program on IBRD Financial Products
project, working with Barents Group. Her particular assignment was to design and write the training
sections, including the case study of the fictional country of Millennium that was used to augment the
principles taught and to illustrate how IBRD’s capital market products can be used in the government’s
debt management and risk management strategies. (2000-2001)
China Development Bank, Beijing
Ms. Hargrove provided technical assistance in risk management and ALM as part of an Institutional
Strengthening Project for China’s fifth largest state-owned bank. Activities included a diagnostic of
CDB’s existing ALM and Treasury practices; establishing a formal ALCO that can take a
comprehensive, medium and long-term risk management approach to all financial risks faced by CDB
(liquidity, interest rate, foreign exchange and capital risks) to ensure that assets and liabilities are
managed in an integrated, coherent and transparent manner to maximize risk-adjusted return within a
given risk tolerance level; parameters for RAROC profitability analysis; and a simplified Funds Transfer
Pricing system.
Materials provided and/or training included: an extensive Draft Risk Management Manual (including
Liquidity and Funding Policy with explicit guidelines across key liquidity dimensions), as well as
training on use of the Manual; Terms of Reference for ALCO; ALM package of model ALCO agenda,
sample policies and reports; interim New Product and Derivatives Policies; white paper on Analytical
Framework for ALM Decision-making; a benchmarking study comparing CDB to best practice
commercial and development banks, agenda for an ALM Study Tour; and a presentation at a BIS II
Seminar jointly sponsored by PBOC and CDB entitled “How Much Capital Do You Really Need.”
(Funded by World Bank through BearingPoint; July, 2001-September, 2003)
International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC
Ms. Hargrove has performed various project and bank appraisals for IFC including the following:
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Development and deliverance of a training program on risk management for Royal Bank of Trinidad,
a major bank in Trinidad and Tobago in association with IFC (February, 2002)
Development and deliverance of bank training and technical assistance in ALM for banks identified
by IFC in Tbilisi, Georgia (1999-2000)
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Appraisals of four banks for possible investment by IFC, Yerevan, Armenia (March-April, 1999)
Appraisals of five banks in Moscow (March, 2000; August, 2000; October, 1999; February, JulyAugust, 1998)
Development of in-house training programs for IFC staff in Bank Appraisals and Derivative
Products.
CAREER PROFILE
Bank Supervision and Regulation
As the Secretary of Banking for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Hargrove developed and
implemented the department’s first strategic plan, installing an integrated a wide-area network for exam
processing, intradepartmental communication and MIS, significantly reducing turnaround time and
enhancing surveillance. She reorganized the department along functional lines, eliminating duplications
and standardizing supervisory and enforcement activities, creating a cross-trained generic examination
force reflecting the growing homogeneity of regulated institutions, adding value to the examination
function and improving utilization of resources. Ms. Hargrove successfully resolved failed privatelyinsured banks with de novo FDIC-insured banks. She was a delegate to US-USSR Emerging Leaders
Summit (1988) and served on several Boards, including PA Housing Finance Agency (Vice Chair), PA
Economic Development Partnership, PA Industrial Development Agency and the State Liaison
Committee, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
Consulting and Training
Ms. Hargrove has consulting and training experience in a number of Central and East European
countries. She has served as a trainer and developer of training materials for the USAID/Barents Group
banker training centers in Kyiv, Ukraine and Tbilisi, Georgia. She has developed materials and presented
seminars in Bank Analysis, ALM, Capital Markets and Investment Banking. In 1997, she led workshops
at a commercial bank in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine on investment banking and bank financial
management. In a previous training engagement for the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in
Moscow, Ms. Hargrove developed a training module on Economic Analysis (Financial and Profitability
Analysis of Banks and Their Borrowers), which included liquidity and funds management; performance
analysis; credit analysis and loan review; CAMEL; internal auditing. She subsequently taught the first
course to trainers at the Central Bank’s Training School in Oryol.
Ms. Hargrove’s other training and consulting engagements include an engagement with the International
Finance and Business School in Moscow, where she developed a training module, and taught a seminar
on the Fundamentals of Bank Appraisal, including: basic investment concepts; standard valuation
measures including discounted cash flow and going concern values, franchise value, liquidating value
and adjusted book value; merger and acquisition strategy and planning; evaluation of loan portfolios; and
evaluation of off-balance sheet items (derivatives, standby lines and letters of credit).
Corporate Finance, Investment Banking and Investment Management
During her 17 years as a corporate finance and investment expert, Ms. Hargrove has held roles of
increasing responsibility. As Vice President at Philadelphia First Group, Ms. Hargrove was responsible
for corporate finance and investment banking, mergers, capital raising, valuations, and general advisory
activities. In her other positions, Ms. Hargrove held responsibility for credit product management,
planning and training for credit-related products, including interest rate swaps, defeasance and ESOPs.
She also has experience in initiating, developing and closing merger-related transactions, valuations,
private placements, and bank capital planning. Early in her career she developed an investment school to
teach basic principles of economics and security analysis of debt and equity instruments and supervised
the Performance Evaluation Unit of Trust Investment Division of a major regional bank
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Financial Services Advisory Highlights:
 Legal and regulatory analysis of draft regulations for "Registry of Credits and Guarantees" for
the National Bank of Slovak Republic
 Feasibility studies: Training centers (Moscow); and new bank product offering in Asia
 Expert testimony and/or reports on bank regulatory changes supporting successful resolution of
tax case for City of Philadelphia; for BCCI-related litigation supporting liquidator's successful
claims; for successful restitution of funds improperly seized from a bank in Tanzania.
 Private placements of debt securities for banks, bank holding companies, manufacturing
companies and housing project for Air Force Base in Alaska, including innovative use of tax-free
financing for management buyout of subsidiary of private company
 Evaluation of assortment of manufacturing, service and financial service companies, including
innovative evaluation of "break up" value of asbestos-related company in bankruptcy and unique
valuation of trademarks of subsidiary of Australian company for capital allocation and tax
purposes
 Merger assignments in food, retailing, hardware manufacturing, pharmaceutical and oil
industries
 Business and capital plans for several companies including: telecommunications business in U.S.
for European equipment manufacturer; cocoa processing business in U.S. for foreign parent; and
bank capital studies for regulatory purposes
 Analysis and training for bank credit-related products including interest rate swaps, defeasance
and ESOP's
SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Hargrove Consultancy, 1995-present
Secretary of Banking, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1987-1995
Vice President, Philadelphia First Group, Inc., Plymouth Meeting, PA, 1985-1987
Vice President, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Services Officer, CoreStates Philadelphia National
Bank, Philadelphia, PA, 1976-1985
Mergers and Acquisitions Analyst, Morgan Stanley and Co., New York, 1973-1974
Investment Assistant, Wachovia Bank & Trust Company, Winston-Salem, NC, 1970-1973
EDUCATION
Harvard University, JFK School of Government, State and Local Program, 1988.
Chartered Financial Analyst, 1980
MBA, Finance, The Wharton School, Graduate Division, University of Pennsylvania, 1976
BA, Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1968
AFFILIATIONS & OTHER
Financial Management Association International (former Practitioner Director)
CFA Institute
The Wharton Alumni Club (former Advisory Board member)
Women Executives in State Government (former Board member)
Career Achievement Award, Mary Baldwin College
Juliette Low "Take the Lead" Award, Girl Scouts of Philadelphia
Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, Seton Hill College
Pennsylvania's Honor Roll of Women
Pennsylvania Women's Forum (Charter Member and former Board member)
Marathon Runner (Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal, New York, Pittsburgh)