BOUNDARY of authority

This work is designed to complement — not replace — legal, audit, compliance, and technical functions by operating earlier in the decision lifecycle.

We do not provide legal advice, audit services, compliance execution, or technical product recommendations.
We assess governance exposure and decision integrity.


 

Who This Service Is For

This service is designed for organisations and decision-makers operating in environments where decisions carry asymmetric risk and long-term consequences.

  • Investment Banks & Capital Markets Functions

  • Enterprise Risk, Audit & Executive Committees

  • Asset Managers, Family Offices & Principals

  • Corporate Treasury & Strategic Units

  • Compliance, Control & Governance Functions

This service is not intended for speculative activity, transactional brokerage, or engagements seeking validation rather than independent assessment

 
 

Risk Domains:

Systemic & automated decision risk

  • Risk created when decisions are partially or fully automated, or when humans rely on automated outputs to make decisions faster, at scale, or with reduced scrutiny.

Cross-domain governance exposure

  • Risk that emerges between silos, not inside them.

Data use & privacy governance exposure

  • Risk arising from how data is collected, reused, combined and flows across systems, borders, and purposes.

Decision reliance on models and algorithms

  • Risk created by opaque models, non-intuitive outputs, and an over-reliance on statistical confidence.

Digital asset governance & custody exposure

  • Risk arising from misunderstanding what is actually owned, controlled, or reversible; custody and control ambiguity, cross-border exposure.

Governance risk arising from automated monitoring

  • Risk created when monitoring, detection, or compliance functions are automated — often using AI — to:

    • Flag behaviour

    • Detect anomalies

    • Trigger investigations

    • Inform enforcement decisions

 

 

Core Risk Governance Functions

Independent Counterparty & Entity Risk Evaluation

Governance-grade assessment of counterparties, exchanges, OTC desks, partners, and principals, focused on integrity, credibility, and structural coherence — not surface-level checks.

Governance-Grade Written Determination

Clear, unambiguous outcomes backed by structured risk logic — designed to support governance accountability and defensibility.

Capital Protection & Exposure Analysis

Identification and articulation of downside risk across financial, reputational, operational, and regulatory dimensions, including structural analysis and scenario-based stress testing.

Pre-Commitment Risk Governance Protocols

Design and application of clearance frameworks before capital, credibility, or trust is committed.
Applied to impose discipline where urgency, incentives, or internal pressure erode judgment.

Ongoing Risk Advisory & Escalation Support

Retainer-based or project-based advisory for organisations requiring a standing, unconflicted risk perspective at moments of escalation.

 

 

Engagement Contexts

This mandate is typically engaged when:

• A high-value transaction or relationship is under consideration
• Capital has already been deployed and exposure must be reassessed
• Internal teams require an independent second opinion
• Governance, controls, or counterparties need stress-testing
• Leadership requires clarity under uncertainty
• Reputational or credibility exposure is emerging

Representative Mandates (Anonymised)

• Pre-engagement counterparty risk review for seven- to ten-figure capital deployment
• Integrity and feasibility assessment of offshore investment structures
• Red-flag analysis of misrepresentation and credibility risk in proposed financial instruments
• Executive-level advisory on operational and reputational exposure

Due to the nature of the work, most engagements are not publicly attributable.

 

 

How Engagements Work

1. Risk Intake & Context Mapping

Materials, representations, counterparties, and decision context are submitted.
The assessment focuses on what is at stake if the decision proves incorrect.

2. Independent Risk Analysis

Each engagement is assessed across three lenses:

Structural Risk — Does the proposition hold together?
Integrity Risk — Misrepresentation, inconsistency, behavioural red flags.
Exposure Risk — Financial, reputational, regulatory, and operational consequences.

3. Written Determination

You receive a clear, written outcome:

• Proceed
• Proceed with Conditions
• Do Not Proceed

There is no ambiguity. Where the answer is no, it is stated directly and supported with clear reasoning.

We do not own or execute decisions. QOC provides independent assessment and documentable determinations to support your internal decision authority and governance obligations.

4. Optional Ongoing Advisory

For select clients, continuity is provided through retainer or project-based advisory — supporting escalation reviews, second opinions, and executive decision-making.

 

 

Pascale Hennessey

Founder & Principal — Queens of Capital International S.A.

Pascale brings over 15 years’ experience in leadership advisory roles spanning corporate, institutional, cross-border, and privately held organisations, with a focus on independent risk intelligence, governance exposure, and decision integrity.

She is engaged as an external authority at moments where decisions carry asymmetric risk and the cost of being wrong is material.

[View full profile →]

 

Download the Risk Intelligence Mandate Overview

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