IT contractors may find a flood of opportunities coming their way in the financial services sector, in light of new legislation.

According to Ovum, regulatory reforms designed to protect the economy from another credit crunch will see financial services firms having to deal with an "onslaught" of IT changes.

However, one expert believes that the banking sector has not yet set aside the necessary funds to implement the changes, due in 2011.

Ovum analyst Alex Kwiatkowski says the banks must do more to prepare, as these amendments must be made in order to ensure compliance.

"They will need to take a new approach to IT planning and investment in 2011 if they are to deal with the cost of the new legislation while remaining competitive," he said.

A report by consultancy firm Kroll recently revealed that the number of information security breaches suffered by financial services companies has doubled in the last year.