International banking group operating across multiple business lines (retail banking, corporate banking, capital markets, asset management), navigating increasing regulatory requirements (stress tests, capital planning) and the need to elevate strategic planning capabilities.

Existing budget projection processes were fragmented across business lines, with heterogeneous methodologies and manual consolidation that precluded rapid iteration or reliable scenario modeling. Executive leadership lacked a consolidated view to inform strategic decisions.

Before technology selection, the priority was clarifying target planning architecture and securing stakeholder alignment.

The fundamental challenge was Executive Committee decision-making capability: in a multi-business group subject to stringent regulatory constraints, how to give senior leadership the ability to rapidly simulate the impact of different strategic trajectories on prudential ratios and financial performance?

Fragmented processes prevented iteration on projection assumptions, and each ad hoc simulation request mobilized teams for weeks. Capital allocation decisions were made without consolidated visibility on downstream consequences.

The objective: build an integrated platform enabling:

• Simultaneous projection of P&L, balance sheet, capital, and liquidity across multiple scenarios

• Production of regulatory stress tests within supervisor-mandated deadlines

• Rapid, reliable simulations to inform strategic decisions

‍

We engaged in a context of tension between business line directors, each advocating for their own projection assumptions. Our initial role was facilitating stakeholder alignment (Finance, Risk, HR, business lines) around a common planning framework.

The engagement encompassed:

• Arbitrating projection methodologies across business lines and defining shared macroeconomic assumptions

• Modeling regulatory constraints (CET1, LCR, NSFR) directly into planning processes

• Designing a simulation workflow enabling Executive Committee scenario testing in hours versus weeks

The deployed platform covers financial planning, regulatory stress tests, and workforce planning, with iteration capability that has transformed the quality of strategic dialogue.