Biography

James H. Freis, Jr. has pursued a career dedicated to promoting the integrity of the global financial markets.  He currently leads Market Integrity Solutions, a consulting firm providing executive advice on global financial regulation, good governance, and innovative technology solutions; and is Chairman of CRINDATA, a fintech startup providing risk management solutions for outsourcing and incident reporting by financial institutions.

From 2014 through 2020 he was Managing Director, Chief Compliance Officer, and Group Anti-Money Laundering Officer of the Deutsche Börse Group, Europe’s largest provider of systemically significant financial market infrastructures.  In June 2020, he was asked to join the management board of the FinTech payments services provider, Wirecard AG, to professionalize the company and oversee its regulated businesses.  Within his first day, he exposed internal fraud, was promoted to CEO, and then initiated a global restructuring and eventual insolvency proceedings of what had been a blue-chip company.  From 2007 to 2012, Mr. Freis was Director (CEO) of the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the lead U.S. Government official for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements, and head of the country’s financial intelligence unit (FIU).  Earlier in his career, he worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, and the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Mr Freis is a graduate of Georgetown University, earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder.