Global Bank Treasury Team
Mid-sized treasury operations across multiple time zones and business units streamlined decision-making and eliminated redundant oversight, reducing coordination overhead by 82%.
Organization Profile
A mid-sized global bank with treasury operations spanning three continents and five business units. The treasury team (45 professionals) managed liquidity, funding, hedging, and counterparty risk across multiple entities and regulatory frameworks.
Despite being well-staffed and technically sophisticated, the organization was struggling with decision velocity. What should have been simple approval processes took weeks, and senior leadership was spending 40%+ of their time in coordination meetings rather than strategic work.
The Hidden Coordination Tax
Where Coordination Overhead Was Hidden
- Approval Chains: A funding decision required sign-offs from 7 different people across 4 departments. Each step took 2-3 days.
- Daily Coordination Meetings: 4-5 meetings per day just to sync on status. Attendees often prepared the same information for multiple meetings.
- Redundant Reviews: Risk, Compliance, and Finance each independently reviewed the same transactions, creating bottlenecks.
- Documentation for Alignment: Emails, meeting notes, and shared documents were duplicated because teams didn't trust they had the latest information.
- Escalation Overhead: Decisions that should have been delegated were escalated due to unclear authority boundaries.
- Cross-timezone Delays: Decision-making was synchronized to headquarters time, forcing teams in other regions to wait.
The Real Cost
At an average loaded cost of $180K per treasury professional, 82% coordination overhead meant each person was spending approximately $147K of their annual value per year on coordination activities rather than value-generating treasury work.
With 45 treasury professionals, that's $6.6M annually spent on coordination. The organization calculated that 35% of this overhead could be eliminated through better organizational design—yielding $413K in annual recoverable time that could be reinvested in revenue-generating activities.
Engagement Phases
Key Outcomes
Quantifiable Results
- 82% reduction in coordination overhead: From 6.6M hours of coordination annually to 1.2M hours
- $413K annual time savings: That recovered coordination time converted to productive treasury capacity
- 50% fewer meetings: Daily coordination meetings reduced from 4-5 to 2
- Decision time cut by 60%: Approval cycles reduced from 2-3 weeks to 4-5 business days
- 3x faster funding decisions: Liquidity decisions that previously took 10 days now take 3
Business Outcomes
- Treasury team could now act on market opportunities same-day rather than waiting through approval processes
- Senior leadership recovered 20+ hours/week previously spent in coordination, allowing focus on strategic initiatives
- Improved compliance and audit trail due to clearer decision authorities and documentation
- Headcount reduction opportunity—same treasury output with 6-7 fewer FTE through better organization (not pursued, but demonstrated ROI potential)
- Team engagement improved—professionals spent more time on treasury work vs. politics and coordination
Business Outcomes (continued)
- Funding costs decreased 12bp annually due to ability to execute strategies more quickly
- Risk metrics improved through clearer accountability and faster reaction times
- Knowledge retention improved—decisions weren't stuck waiting for key individuals
Client Perspective
"Before, we thought we were well-organized because we had processes for everything. What we discovered was that our processes created as much overhead as they solved. We were so busy coordinating that we couldn't actually do treasury work. What Luigi helped us see is that the best organization isn't the one with the most processes—it's the one that trusts people to make decisions within clear boundaries. That trust completely changed how we operate."
— Treasury Director, Global Bank
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