RiskMetrics Group, a leading provider of risk management and corporate governance services to the global financial community, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of CFRA (Center for Financial Research & Analysis).
Serving institutional investors and other market players, CFRA is an independent global leader in forensic accounting risk research, legal/regulatory risk assessment, due-diligence, and educational services.
"RiskMetrics Group is now in a position to provide investors with extensive quantitative and qualitative analysis across a broad spectrum of risk," said Ethan Berman, Chief Executive Officer of RiskMetrics Group. "Our clients must manage risk from multiple angles and by viewing the risk spectrum in the broad way that we do, RiskMetrics Group helps enable its clients to make more informed investment-related decisions through products and services designed to provide transparency to the capital markets."
Through a rigorous and proprietary research process, CFRA assesses the quality and sustainability of reported financial results at over 10,000 companies globally. CFRA brings a global clientele that includes some of the most prestigious institutional investors, insurance underwriters, regulatory bodies, and diversified financial services firms in the world.
With the close of the CFRA transaction, Richard Leggett, formerly president and chief executive officer of CFRA, will head a newly formed ISS Governance Services unit of RiskMetrics Group, which includes the corporate governance and proxy voting-related services of ISS and the research & analysis capabilities of CFRA.
"RiskMetrics, ISS and CFRA are all incredible franchises in and of themselves," commented Leggett. "Together, we can offer our clients services that address a broad spectrum of risk."