CLIENT CUT-OVER
TURNAROUND

CLIENT MIGRATIONS WITH A HARD LEGAL DEADLINE

Within Deutsche Bank's Brexit programme, operational client migrations had to be completed between February and April 2019. Client relationships needed to be re-papered, technically migrated and ready for the required booking and supervision model before the legal transition date.

A DATABASE WITHOUT AN EXECUTION MODEL

By November 2018, the workstream had built a technical database, but readiness was not transparent and dependencies were unclear across client repapering, technology readiness and remote booking supervision. The workstream lead could not reliably communicate what was needed, from whom, by when or why. In February, the team also discovered that Tax had not been adequately involved and that potential withholding-tax repapering requirements had been missed, creating potential legal and tax liabilities.

TURN READINESS INTO A WORKABLE PLAN

I took on the workstream as an additional responsibility and reset it around execution. I created a realistic plan, established a clearer cadence, made readiness criteria visible, aligned dependencies with other workstreams and re-sequenced cut-overs around actual readiness. I held contributing teams accountable for their inputs rather than allowing the database to become another passive status tracker.

When the tax-related gap emerged, I mobilised temporary capacity through an Operations colleague. A team of approximately 100 junior resources was reassigned within two days from other client-documentation remediation work to address the repapering gap.

THE DELIVERY RHYTHM CONTINUED WITHOUT ME

By May 2019, the workstream had a clearer plan, cadence, ownership model and view of readiness. I handed it to a team member, who completed the remaining cut-overs as planned without further incidents or client disruption and without needing my day-to-day involvement.

A TURNAROUND SHOULD LEAVE CAPABILITY BEHIND

The point of a short intervention is not to become a permanent dependency. It is to make readiness, ownership and next actions clear enough that the internal team can finish the work with confidence.