Advisory
Regulated institutions have to change while the regulator watches, and most programs fail on ownership and sequencing rather than technology. Line of the Ball works with executive sponsors to define the operating model, build the governance and program office around it, and keep senior stakeholders aligned until the change lands.
Transformation and corporate development
Target operating model design for finance, risk, investments and technology functions
Carve-outs, divestitures and standalone separations, including Transition Services Agreements and systems separation
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) due diligence, deal structuring support and post-close integration
Outsourcing, location strategy and centers of excellence
Cost base reduction through product simplification, ledger consolidation and centralization
Risk, regulatory and governance
Capital adequacy programs, including Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) and Basel II
Liquidity risk programs and regulator relationship management
Operational risk frameworks, Risk and Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) standards and key risk indicators
Regulatory remediation and closure of findings from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
Enterprise data governance and market structure change such as T+1 settlement
Program offices and CoS executive management
Chief of Staff support for the office of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Chief Risk Officer (CRO): budget, planning cycle, leadership cadence and board papers
Program Management Office (PMO) design and stand-up
Value assurance, early warning on troubled programs and program recovery
Portfolio governance, prioritization and benefits realization
Interim leadership during a search, a separation or a restructuring
Representative engagements
Built a value assurance practice over a $390M change portfolio for a global insurer that predicted program health with 80% accuracy and recovered $200M in business value
Led the global program that separated a legacy lending business into a $4B standalone fintech across 28 countries, owning plan, budget, cutover governance and systems separation
Directed a $277M carve-out of an asset manager from a global insurer, transferring 1,000 staff and every investment system without a break in compliance
Directed a global insurer's first CCAR submission and built the governance and automated reporting that became its capital adequacy framework
Built a global investment bank's first Basel II operational risk framework and secured Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval
Ran the global liquidity risk program office for an international bank, reporting to three regulators
Recovered a distressed $7M risk platform migration for a consumer lender and delivered on the original date
Delivered T+1 settlement compliance for a corporate and investment bank's U.S. operations on the FINRA deadline
How the firm engages
A conversation about the problem, the sponsor and the timeline
A one-page scope with cadence and fee, within a week
Start within two to four weeks, on site or remote
Engagements run from a six-week diagnostic to a twelve-month program leadership role.