Digital Bank Launch and Transformation

Scope of work

• Business strategy and launch plan developed, covering market gap analysis, product identification and design, the product mix and the launch timeline, with the hiring plan and organisational structure set against the product and IT development schedules.

• Governance established, advising the board on the corporate governance structure, writing the governance framework and policies including the enterprise risk framework and recovery plan, and establishing procedures for AML and KYC, customer journey and HR.

• Technology build planned and budgeted, with vendor management and project coordination across core banking, client experience platforms, AML and KYC systems and cybersecurity, and IT governance approval processes defined.

• Regulatory approval secured through a regulatory business plan with projections covering regulatory capital, LCR and NSFR, and the ICAAP and ILAAP framework, processes and documentation, alongside an ESG framework and climate risk stress testing capability.

• Embedded transformation post-launch, with a senior team on site operating as an extension of management:

  • Liability and asset strategy reset around platform-led, alternative-data-assisted underwriting across trade and supply chain finance and asset-backed lending
  • Client segmentation defined across ADGM and DIFC entities, SPVs, fund managers and fintechs
  • Collection friction diagnosed and an AED collection account solution operationalised through a partner bank

• IP brought in-house, securing source code control, reducing vendor dependency, building an SME credit model internally in place of an external licence, and internalising vendor change requests.