Customer Overview
A major Middle East financial conglomerate with over $1B in revenue and operations in 10+ countries, focused on currency exchange and remittances. Handling high-value transactions demands robust operational standards to uphold trust and meet varied financial regulations.
Challenges & Objectives
With a rapidly growing operational footprint, the organization faced pressure to strengthen its cybersecurity governance and compliance measures. One subsidiary urgently required ISO 27001 certification but lacked the necessary in-house security leadership and had limited time to meet regulatory deadlines. Meanwhile, the broader enterprise needed strategic oversight to align its risk management practices with evolving financial sector regulations. Finding professionals with deep FinTech security compliance expertise proved difficult, adding to the urgency to engage an external partner that could offer specialized guidance and immediate support.
Solutions & Approach
A virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) function was deployed to provide strategic oversight and address ISO 27001 requirements across the subsidiary and the broader enterprise. Comprehensive risk assessments, including gap analyses and control mapping, aligned with international standards and local financial regulations. A unified governance framework ensured consistent policy development, risk management, and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.Close collaboration with internal teams, regulators, and auditors facilitated targeted training, cultivating a strong in-house talent pipeline. By rapidly executing compliance measures, the organization met strict ISO 27001 deadlines, reinforcing security leadership and sustaining best practices in a dynamic, high-stakes financial environment.
Value Delivered
Accelerated ISO 27001 certification for a key subsidiary was achieved on schedule, cutting potential audit delays by 50%. A unified governance framework reduced overlapping security processes across multiple countries, enhancing risk visibility for top leadership. The newly established vCISO function streamlined decision-making and improved cross-team coordination, reducing security incidents related to misconfigurations by 35%. By standardizing processes, the conglomerate positioned itself for smoother expansions and quicker adaptation to shifting financial regulations.
“We’re now far more agile in managing regulatory and client security demands,” stated the Head of Compliance.