The IMS Group announces the acquisition of MMS Regulatory Solutions

9th February 2011

The IMS Group (“IMS”), a leading provider of regulatory compliance consulting and integrated business support to the asset management and securities industry, today announces the acquisition of MMS Regulatory Solutions (‘RSL’). This is IMS’s first acquisition since its investment from Sovereign Capital, the UK’s premier private equity Buy and Build specialist, in November 2010.

RSL is recognised as one of London’s  leading compliance consultancies and has built an excellent reputation for the quality of its service among its client base, which includes hedge funds, investment managers and brokers. Established in 1999 as Leale-Green Ltd by Alan Leale-Green, it changed its name to Regulatory Solutions Limited in April 2006 after legal firm Maclay Murray & Spens (‘MMS’) acquired a majority stake in the firm, which IMS has now acquired. Alan Leale-Green, Chief Executive of RSL, will join IMS as a Group Director together with his team of consultants.

As the regulatory challenges facing investment firms become increasingly complex and global, IMS continues to provide leading practical advice that is relevant to clients’ needs and to help steer them through forthcoming developments by offering a full range of services and specialist expertise. The acquisition of RSL enhances IMS’s resources and expertise to deal with these challenges, enabling the Group to build on the significant industry experience it offers the market.

Alan Leale-Green commented:

“We are all very enthusiastic about this acquisition. In joining forces with IMS we will be gaining a broader skills base and will be able to offer our clients a wider range of services in addition to compliance consulting, meaning that we will be better placed to assist clients with the array of forthcoming regulatory challenges that are currently affecting our industry.”

Michel van Leeuwen, Group Chief Executive of The IMS Group, said:

”In many respects regulatory compliance consulting is still largely a cottage industry. This acquisition marks IMS’s first steps towards consolidating our market leading status, serving more than 600 regulated clients and creates a larger, quality-driven regulatory consulting partner for our industry.  RSL is a very well regarded regulatory consulting firm in our sector and we feel confident that this will be the perfect partnership from which to expand our  current expertise to the ultimate benefit of our clients. IMS will continue to consolidate the UK market in addition to focusing on international acquisitions in order to deliver a global solution for the industry’s growing compliance needs.”