FFA Private Bank
teams up with Ankura

Targeting banking sector

restructuring consultancy mandates

FFA Private Bank has signed a representation agreement with Ankura, a US-headquartered international management consultancy. The two companies have joined forces to seek mandates for restructuring consultancy in the banking and other sectors.

“Banks are in great need of expertise to stay afloat and successfully navigate the crisis,” said Jean Riachi, Chairman of FFA Private Bank. “Many Lebanese commercial banks still enjoy fundamental strengths despite the current crisis. They will need to adapt to the new operating environment. It is vital that they have access to expert resources that can help them develop and evaluate strategies designed to help them make informed decisions and realizing winning strategies,” he said.

The partnership with Ankura adds functional skills such as turnaround, restructuring, forensic accounting, finance transformation, risk and compliance, due diligence and financial advisory to the mix. “Such expertise is fundamental to support response and strategic repositioning of financial institutions,” Riachi said. The two parties jointly provide a “unique suite of advisory and consulting services localized to the Lebanese market,” he said.

Simon Michaels, a leader at Ankura, said the consulting firm is looking forward to offer its capabilities in what is currently one of the world’s most watched countries. For the US-headquartered consultancy, the partnership in Lebanon comes shortly after it closed two acquisitions in North America: Water Street Partners and UnitedLex’s cybersecurity practice.