The intellectual assets of the International Centre for Financial Regulation (ICFR), which went into administration late last year, are being put up for sale.

Metis Partners, the Scotland and California-based intellectual property specialist, is looking for a purchaser for the IP assets of the regulatory thinktank after administrators Zolfo Cooper said that it did not now consider it will be possible to rescue the company as a going concern.

The ICFR was launched in 2008, in the wake of the financial crisis, with the remit to learn lessons and chart a more collaborative approach. It aimed to provide objective research, debate and training about financial regulation.

However, in November 2012 the City of London police were asked to investigate a black hole in ICFR's accounts and the institution subsequently went into administration.

The thinktank was backed by millions in government grants, including £2.5m from the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and £450,000 from the Department for Business (BIS). It also had support from 19 financial institutions and the City of London Corporation.

Nat Baldwin, head of corporate recovery at Metis Partners, said: 'Despite recent events, the ICFR had, in the last few years, built significant brand recognition and integrity based on its position as an independent, non-partisan organisation.'

Metis said it is looking to find buyers for the ICFR's 6000-entry database of contacts in the financial and regulatory industry, as well as its trade mark, its domain and website and its weekly newsletter which contained analysis and briefings.

The think-tank's organisational knowledge - including analysis, consultation responses, discussion papers, regulatory briefings, regulatory round-ups and podcasts and vodcasts - will also be open to offers, which need to be made by 14 February 2013.