Pinsent Masons appoints inaugural financial regulatory consulting head

Ian joins from Konexo, Eversheds Sutherland’s legal services delivery division, where he held the position of Managing Director and headed its financial regulatory and compliance consulting team. This role encompassed regulatory conduct and financial crime advisory and remediation services. 

The comprehensive new proposition will enhance Pinsent Masons’ existing financial services offering which includes Finance & Restructuring, Financial Regulation, Litigation, Contentious Regulatory and Remediation, Financial Crime, Insurance, Investment Funds and Pensions & Long-term Savings. It will also complement the firm’s Litigation & Regulatory practice when it comes to financial crime matters. 

Ian’s new service line will help clients navigate mounting regulatory and societal pressures, including increasing FCA supervision, compliance scrutiny and anti-financial crime oversight. The team will help clients address weaknesses in businesses’ systems and controls, governance frameworks and deliver complex remediation and change programmes. 

In addition to Ian, a team of financial regulatory specialists will join Pinsent Masons Vario. These are senior practitioners with considerable time in the industry who lead on matters, support clients on complex regulatory challenges, and help deliver innovative, commercially focused solutions. 

Partner and Head of Pinsent Masons Vario Matthew Kay commented, “Ian’s appointment to lead this new service line is a hugely exciting step for Pinsent Masons. Clients expect us to provide sophisticated, hybrid solutions which combine traditional legal expertise with new ways of delivering better, more strategically aligned outcomes. We can now deploy multi-disciplined teams at scale for complex projects such as high-volume compliance reviews, major remediation exercises or multi-workstream regulatory programmes.” 

Jonathan Cavill, Head of the firm’s FS Contentious Regulatory and Remediation practice said: “Ian’s arrival is a significant addition to our market leading contentious regulatory and remediation offering. His expertise will strengthen our ability to support clients on complex, high stakes matters by combining legal, regulatory and practical delivery capability in a more integrated way. In particular, it will enhance how we help clients respond to regulatory scrutiny, address weaknesses in systems and controls, and deliver major remediation and change programmes.” 

Ian added, “Whether it’s fulfilling their duties towards vulnerable customers, combatting fraud or responding to regulators’ desire to encourage growth while mitigating risk, UK financial services organisations are grappling with a landscape increasingly characterised by complexity and risk. With Pinsent Masons determined to continue to invest heavily in its City practice, I’m ideally positioned to help clients navigate these challenges.” 

Pinsent Masons Vario has consistently attracted market-leading experts and expanded its offering to anticipate client demand and differentiate its services. In November 2025, Jenny Grotepass joined from A&O Shearman’s Peerpoint to become Head of Growth for Pinsent Masons Vario. Earlier in the year, James Lewindon joined from Flex Legal to become Head of UK and Ireland for Flexible Services and Ben Williams, former head of KPMG Law’s global legal solutions division, joined to lead the Client Consulting team.