Since joining McKinsey, Thomas has served financial institutions across Europe and globally. He is an expert in helping clients with credit, market risk, compliance, IT and other non-financial risks, workout, and restructuring. Beyond banking, Thomas has recently engaged in large risk and resilience transformations for industrial corporates.
Within McKinsey, Thomas has led the design and execution of several banking risk surveys on issues such as credit portfolio management and asset liability management. Thomas leads the global Risk & Resilience Editorial Board, which publishes McKinsey on Risk & Resilience insights. He also chairs McKinsey’s Risk Committee in Germany and provides guidance on risk and compliance topics for the sectors of advanced industries and banking in Europe. Thomas has written books on strategic risk management and credit portfolio control and numerous articles on risk topics.
Thomas spent two years leading a global “three lines of defense” risk strategy program for a major German bank. He formerly served as a member of the European Commission’s Group of Experts on Banking Issues and the executive committee of the Frankfurt Institute of Risk Management and Regulation. He currently coleads McKinsey’s collaboration with the World Economic Forum on Resilience.
Published work
“From crisis management to strategic resilience: Lessons from the auto industry,” McKinsey & Company, March 2025
Resilience pulse check: Harnessing collaboration to navigate a volatile world, McKinsey & Company, January 2025
“How a defined risk appetite can improve nonfinancial risk management,” McKinsey & Company, October 2023
“How agile operating models benefit risk and compliance functions,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, September 2023
“The next frontier in risk efficiency,” McKinsey & Company, April 2023
“Risk and resilience priorities, as told by chief risk officers,” McKinsey & Company, December 2022
“How Volkswagen board member Hiltrud Werner finds resilience,” McKinsey & Company, April 2022
“Risk transformations: The heart, the art, and the science,” McKinsey & Company, April 2022
“From risk management to strategic resilience,” McKinsey & Company, March 2022
“Financial institutions and nonfinancial risk: How corporates build resilience,” McKinsey & Company, February 2022
“The resilience imperative: Succeeding in uncertain times,” McKinsey & Company, May 2021
“Meeting the future: Dynamic risk management for uncertain times,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020
“Strengthening institutional risk and integrity culture,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020
“How banks can ease the pain of negative interest rates,” McKinsey & Company, March 2020
“Enhanced cyberrisk reporting: Opening doors to risk-based cybersecurity,” McKinsey & Company, January 2020
“The compliance function at an inflection point,” McKinsey on Risk, January 2019
“Value and resilience through better risk management,” McKinsey on Risk, October 2018
“Basel III: The final regulatory standard,” McKinsey on Risk, April 2018
“A new posture for cybersecurity in a networked world,” McKinsey on Risk, March 2018
“Sustainable compliance: Seven steps toward effectiveness and efficiency,” McKinsey on Risk, February 2017
“Nonfinancial risk today: Getting risk and the business aligned,” McKinsey & Company, January 2017
“Nonfinancial risk: A growing challenge for the bank,” McKinsey & Company, July 2016
“The evolving role of credit portfolio management,” McKinsey & Company, July 2016
Compliance and control 2.0: Unlocking potential through compliance and quality-control activities, McKinsey Working Papers on Risk, Number 33, June 2012
Education
University of Cologne
PhD, finance
University of Bayreuth
MBA
