James H. Freis, Jr., is the new Chief Compliance Officer for Deutsche Börse Group. He takes over the responsibility from Michael Steinicke effective as of 1 April 2014. In this capacity, he will be responsible for overseeing compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and company policies, as well as responsibilities towards supervisory authorities, among all Group entities. Deutsche Börse has committed to significantly expand its compliance organisation at group level, consistent with its leading and innovative role in this continually evolving global regulatory environment, and in tandem with pursuing its global growth strategy.
Freis (43) joins from the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. He previously served from 2007 to 2012 as the Director (CEO) of the United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the lead U.S. government official responsible for regulation of financial institutions for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing purposes, and head of the country’s financial intelligence unit (FIU) supporting law enforcement investigations. He began his professional career in 1996 as an attorney at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; served from 1999 to 2005 as Senior Counsel at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland; and then moved to the US Department of the Treasury as Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement & Intelligence. Freis earned his degree in economics at Georgetown University and received his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University; he is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Steinicke (47) will move up to take over responsibilities within the Asian initiative of Deutsche Börse contributing to its growth strategy. Steinicke joined Deutsche Börse in 1998 and held various senior management positions before he headed Group Risk Management, Compliance and Information Security since 2005. Steinicke is a member of various Risk and Compliance Associations and Committees.