Rule Financial Ramps up Global Operations to Support International Growth

LONDON, February 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Rule Financial, (http://www.rulefinancial.com), an independent provider of business consultancy, IT consultancy and IT services to the global investment banking community, today announces an increase in sales and a raft of senior hires to support its growing business. Rule Financial has strengthened its presence in New York, made a number of senior hires in London and expanded its presence in Łódź, Poland, illustrating the increased demand for Rule Financial's onshore and nearshore services.

Rule Financial has experienced year-on-year growth with 2011 revenue coming in ahead of target and the company growing its footprint within nine of the top ten global investment banks. In the current market conditions, this growth reflects the requirements of capital market participants for specialist domain knowledge, particularly in regard to new regulation, such as Dodd-Frank, Basel III and the ICB ring-fencing proposals.

The company's offices in New York and Poland have grown considerably with the number of employees more than doubling over the past 12 months. In Łódź, specifically, Rule Financial has attracted a highly skilled and enthusiastic new workforce from the city's leading universities, fuelling growth in a nearshore development and support service that is proving to be highly attractive for its banking clients.

As part of the enhanced team in New York, Ciaran Henry joins Rule Financial, bringing his extensive experience of capital markets and applying these skills to a range of new clients. Ciaran, who reports into CEO Chris Potts, has over 25 years of experience in capital markets technology, gained at some of the world's leading investment banks; previously holding MD positions in the technology organisations of Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, and Credit Suisse.

Regarding his appointment, Ciaran said: "Rule Financial has an industry-wide reputation for innovation and excellent project delivery and I'm delighted to be part of its expansion in the US market. The rapidly changing regulatory environment in the United States, fuelled by the ever evolving Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule, is creating significant challenges for global investment banking. As we support our clients in meeting these complex regulations, I anticipate further growth of the New York team."

In London, Rule Financial continues to reinforce its domain strength and has appointed Jim Warburton as global head of the investment banking domain group, which will lead the development of client-focussed propositions. Jim has gained extensive banking experience from working in roles such as Senior Vice President at Citigroup and Director at Credit Suisse, as well as providing consultancy for many other financial organisations. Jim brings expertise in securities processing, covering Settlement, Clearing and Corporate Actions, on the sellside, buyside and within private banking.

Regarding his appointment, Jim said: "Investment banks around the world rely on Rule Financial for support with projects in core areas such as OTC derivatives clearing, collateral management and optimisation, as well as multi-platform UX design and build for eTrading and risk reporting. We have also witnessed a growing demand for application support and managed services that deliver cost savings and business efficiencies. I am keen to provide innovative new propositions that genuinely help our clients accelerate change and reap the benefits of leading business and IT innovation."

Reporting to Jim is new hire Jeremy Taylor, a specialist in operational processing and derivatives. Jeremy will be leading the delivery of Rule Financial's client offerings in the OTC derivatives area and related regulatory reforms.

Chris Potts, CEO, Rule Financial, said: "Growing the business in 2011 was a tremendous achievement for Rule Financial and a testament to the high quality work our specialists are performing within banks. Our consultants are the foundation of our business and we recruit and develop domain experts who truly innovate to solve the needs of the world's leading banks. We fully intend to develop these capabilities in 2012 with more investment in our domain experts and delivery teams, to offer world-class support to our growing client base."

About Rule Financial

Rule Financial is a leading independent provider of business and IT services, employing over 350 people in the UK, the USA, Spain and Poland. Our specialists work alongside their counterparts at the world's leading investment banks, hedge funds and financial institutions, helping to lower costs, improve productivity and extract the maximum value from IT investments.

We cover all aspects of advisory, execution and support services. Our domain specialisms include: Securities Finance, Prime Services, Risk Management, Trading, Legal & Compliance and Operations. Our delivery specialisms include: advisory and execution services in system development, user-centric design, software development, integration, testing, on-going support and IT outsourcing.

We offer our clients end-to-end solutions that solve their complex business and IT issues. Our specialists have a deep understanding of the increasing regulatory pressures faced by financial institutions and a number of our recent engagements have included strategic consultancy around OTC derivatives regulation and the implications of central clearing on integrated systems and collateral management.

web: http://www.rulefinancial.com

SOURCE Rule Financial