MoonPay welcomes former US Treasury Director James Freis as special advisor

We’re excited to announce the appointment of James Freis as a Special Advisor for Global Financial and Regulatory Affairs. Freis, an advisory lawyer, financial executive and former Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will provide guidance and support to MoonPay’s executives and global compliance team.

Freis, who was recently interviewed by Bloomberg, was the sixth and longest serving Director of FinCEN, working under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama during his tenure. At FinCEN, Freis expanded the scope of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and spearheaded the implementation of modern data analytics in fighting financial crime. He was also attorney and central banker at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank for International Settlements. 

Most notably, Freis was responsible for disclosing internal fraud at German Fintech payments provider, Wirecard. After exposing one of the largest cases of financial fraud in Germany, Freis went on to become the company’s CEO and helped to initiate a global restructuring. 

Following his time in the United States Department of the Treasury, Fries held the roles of Chief Compliance Officer and Group Anti-Money Laundering Officer at the Deutsche Börse Group in Frankfurt, Germany. Here, he oversaw compliance and regulatory relations for Europe’s largest provider of systemically significant financial market infrastructures. 

“We’re honored to have Jim on the team," said MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright. "His career in driving excellence, as both a financial regulator and as an executive, speaks for itself. As MoonPay works to bring the next billion people into the crypto economy, Jim brings an unparalleled wealth of experience to the business and will be instrumental in helping us continue our growth.”