Independent Advisory

Built on the inside.
Now available on the outside.

Senior independent counsel for boards, executive committees and risk functions. Twenty-five years inside the world's leading financial institutions - now working for you.

Board Advisory· Independent Risk Counsel· AI, Technology & Cyber

"The depth of institutional knowledge that boards need - without the overhead they don't."

Experience
Prudential - Senior Director
Standard Chartered - Managing Director
National Australia Bank - Operational Risk Consultant
RBS & NatWest - Various Roles
ABN AMRO - Integration Programme Manager
IBM - Various
The Case for Whitecliff

Senior expertise.
Without the overhead.

If it can't be explained to a board member in two minutes, the governance hasn't been done properly.

Whitecliff Advisory brings Principal-level experience from the world's most scrutinised financial institutions directly to your board, your CRO, and your risk function - at a fraction of the cost of the major advisory firms, and without the junior team that often does the work.

Independent counsel
No conflicts. No product to sell. Advice that serves your interests alone.
Pragmatic by design
Frameworks that work in the real world, not frameworks designed to produce deliverables.
Genuine enthusiasm
Risk and governance are not just a discipline here - they are a genuine interest.
What We Do

Service Areas

01
Board Advisory

Direct counsel to boards and non-executive directors on technology, cyber, and risk governance. Built for the level of scrutiny that regulators actually apply.

02
Independent Risk Counsel

Second opinion and independent challenge for CROs and risk committees. Structured around your governance calendar and specific exposures.

03
AI & Technology Risk Governance

Framework design, regulatory mapping, and board-level articulation of AI risk. Integration Before Elevation - not a new silo on top of what you already have.

04
Cyber Governance

Enterprise architecture for cyber functions that need to sustain institutional support - not just deliver security outcomes, but remain credible and funded over time.

05
Regulatory Strategy

Preparation for supervisory engagement, regulatory readiness assessment, and positioning across UK, EU, Singapore, and US frameworks.

06
Executive Programmes

Tailored executive education for boards and senior leadership teams. Practical, concise, and designed for people who govern risk rather than manage it.

How We Work

The Whitecliff approach

Integration Before Elevation
AI and technology governance should be embedded within existing principal risk architecture before new structures are considered. Supervisors expect it. Boards understand it. And it actually works.
Classification Before Deployment
Before any AI system goes into production, institutions must assess how it maps to existing risk frameworks and regulatory obligations. This is the foundation of defensible governance.
Simplicity as a discipline
Good risk governance is clear enough to explain under pressure. If it cannot be described in plain language to a board member, it will not hold up when a supervisor asks the questions.
Jurisdictions
UK
FCA · PRA · BoE · SM&CR
European Union
EBA · ECB · AI Act · DORA
Singapore
MAS · FEAT · AIRM
APAC & Africa
Nigeria · Bahrain · Kenya · Jordan
About
Jim Roberts

Jim Roberts
Founder & Managing Director

Twenty-five years as a senior risk and technology leader at Tier-1 global financial institutions spanning the UK, EU, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. The experience that institutions have typically paid major advisory firms to access is now available directly - with clearer accountability, faster engagement, and no overhead.

Whitecliff Advisory was founded on a straightforward observation: the best counsel comes from people who have held the accountability themselves.

25+
Years Tier-1 financial services experience
15
Unique regulatory relationships
25+
Page AI Risk Integration Framework
5
Senior positions at Tier-1 Financial Institutions
Contact

Get in touch

Engagements are taken on a selective basis. Initial conversations are without obligation and always confidential.

Typical engagements
Board advisory retainer
CRO independent review and challenge
AI governance framework build
Regulatory readiness assessment
Executive programme delivery
Whitecliff Advisory Sdn. Bhd. · Kuala Lumpur · 2026 Built on the inside. Now available on the outside.