Restructuring a Financial Services Firm

A structure that had grown by accident

After a run of acquisitions, a financial services firm was carrying four overlapping divisions, duplicated functions and a cost base that no longer matched its revenue. Accountability was blurred, decisions were slow, and the board was clear that any change had to happen without weakening controls or unsettling regulators. Earlier attempts at cost-cutting had stalled because they ignored how the risk framework actually worked.

Redesign the model, respect the controls

We worked with leadership to design a simpler operating model from the customer and risk view inward — consolidating four divisions into two, clarifying accountability, and pooling duplicated support functions into shared services. Risk and compliance were in the room from day one, so every structural change was pressure-tested against controls before it was proposed.

We sized the cost impact bottom-up, sequenced the transition to keep the business running and the regulator informed, and gave leadership a clear governance plan for the change itself — so the restructuring was managed as carefully as day-to-day operations.

Simpler, leaner, and still in control

The firm consolidated into two divisions with clear ownership and a shared-services backbone, taking an estimated 12% off run-rate cost. Just as important for a regulated business, the transition raised no new risk findings and left the control environment intact. Decisions that once crossed four divisions now sat with clear owners, and leadership had a cleaner base to build growth on rather than firefighting duplication.