ForwardThink Group, the IT and management consultancy firm, has hired an industry veteran to bolster its compliance and risk practice in New York City.

The firm has hired Alan Morley to head up its team that deals with issues created by new and upcoming financial services regulation, a growing concern since the financial crisis spawned a surge in regulatory activity.

Morley previously held positions at various compliance consultancies, including Adsideo, which he founded in 2009, and Sapient. He also spent some years as managing director of the legal and compliance technologies group of JP Morgan Chase.

"Compliance and risk management are intense hot buttons for companies in the financial services industry. Banks, insurance companies, wealth management and capital market firms have to be diligent about these while remaining vigilant about operational, credit and IT risk," said Morley.

The expansion comes at “a time when the financial services industry is struggling to keep up with new and upcoming government regulations, from Dodd-Frank and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in the US, to Basel III in Europe,” the firm said in a statement.