Finance and Banking

Freeman offers sophisticated legal counsel to the finance and banking sector, from advanced tax planning techniques; to regulatory, AML, and Bank Secrecy Act compliance; to litigating financial disiputes.

Freeman’s legal team counsels domestic and international clients in the finance and banking sector, including banks, holding companies, operating subsidiaries, funds, and their stakeholders.
We advise boards of directors, executive management, and other stakeholders as they navigate their authority and duties to their financial institutions, creditors, shareholders, and federal and state agencies.
Our tax attorneys assist clients with sophisticated finance industry tax planning and tax strategies, including international tax reporting, fiduciary tax regime planning, tax-efficient investments, fund tax strategies, carried interest tax planning, tax opinions and credits, and more. Our tax attorneys have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being named to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers in America list, Super Lawyers, and recognized by Chambers & Partners as among the leading tax attorneys in the United States. Nearly one-third of our attorneys serve as law professors at tier-one law schools.

At Freeman Law, we represent clients across the finance and banking sector, ranging from local lenders to large funds. Our legal team has years of experience in finance and banking related matters, including a combined decades across our attorneys of deal-based experience and the know-how to counsel through even the most unique and complex transactions.

We start from a refreshing perspective: Our clients know that our default answer will never be “no.” Instead, we begin from the premise that anything is possible; and we work to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

Clients Bank on our Judgment and Experience

As a firm, we operate at a complex crossroads of laws and regulations—a space that requires an appreciation for nuance and ingenuity. Our finance and banking industry clients face a spectrum of strategic, operational, and legal challenges layered on a shifting regulatory environment and global uncertainty. Together, we help our banking and finance clients navigate the federal, state, and international regulatory bodies governing the sphere within which they operate.

A Unique Firm for Unique Clients

Clients are not all the same. And neither are law firms. We are a purpose-driven, fundamentally integrated organization, not a random collection of JDs and doctorate holders. And we are action-oriented, ready to deploy.

We maintain a boutique model by design. And we are nimble and adaptive to change, values increasingly in demand in a fast-changing economy and evolving legal landscape.

Our attorneys bring big-firm talent, as well as a team- and can-do attitude to every representation. They bring think-tank intellectual capacity and a particular focus on tax and white-collar law, focus areas that have fostered our finance and banking-related practice. And our firm originated from an institutional commitment to world-class counsel in complex taxation and white-collar representations and litigation, a commitment that has garnered national and international recognition:

Freeman has been ranked by U.S. News and World Reports as a “Tier 1” law firm for tax law. Our attorneys have been named to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers in America list, recognized by Chambers & Partners as among the leading tax and litigation attorneys in the United States, including for fraud representations, and recognized as the “Leading Tax Controversy Litigation Attorney of the Year” for the State of Texas.
We have a depth of tax and tax litigation knowledge. Our tax litigation attorneys include former IRS trial attorneys, former clerks to the Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court, tax law professors, dual-credentialed CPAs, and attorneys with advanced LL.M. tax degrees from the most prestigious tax programs in the nation. One-third of our attorneys serve as law professors at tier one law schools, teaching tax law.
We regularly take on the nation’s biggest litigation firm: The Department of Justice. We bring a systematic approach to complex litigation.

Experience Across the Finance and Banking Industry

We counsel domestic and foreign companies, operating subsidiaries, and holding companies across a range of finance and banking-related matters.

Our attorneys have years of experience representing both lenders and borrowers in a variety of financial transactions and scenarios. From high-net-worth individuals to family banks, major financing businesses to local credit unions, and even non-bank lenders, our team is strategically positioned to leverage know-how and to find solutions.

BSA and USA PATRIOT Act Compliance

We regularly assist clients with Anti-Money Luandering and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance. Financial regulatory agencies’ enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act and AML laws has increased in recent years, and as a result, risk exposure is greater than ever. We assist clients with a range of areas, including:

AML policies and training,
Currency transaction reports and exemptions
Suspicious activity reports
Customer Identification Program compliance
OFAC compliance

Our legal team represents financial institutions before the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and state agencies relating to anti-money laundering and BSA reporting and compliance.

Critical Guidance in an Increasingly Complex World

At Freeman Law, we offer timely legal analyis and representation in an increasingly complex world. While the financial services industry powers the global economy, it is subject to a number of political, geo-political, economic, and macro influences. We work to chart a path forward through the changing landscape.

ESG Initiatives: Environmental, social, and governance measures have never been more relevant. And they give rise to new opportunities for businesses leading ESG initiatives and transitioning toward net-zero emissions, while ensuring that stakeholders have access to fair and equitable finance solutions.
Digital Focus: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a trend toward industry digitalization. However, banks and other finance-related organizations continue to face distinct hurdles related to digital technology. From self-service digital platforms to mobile-first development, increasing cybersecurity challenges, and the need to protect both institutional and client/customer data, we’ve entered a new word of complexity.
Financial Disruptors: The financial industry, which has historically been slow to adapt, is rapidly transforming due to the emergence of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and digital assets like NFTs. This transformation not only ushers in the need for finance and banking organizations to collaborate with trusted partners but also increases the risk of fraud, money laundering, and other legal issues.
New Audiences: As technology becomes more integrated into the finance and banking sector, new audiences are being reached via various methods, including mobile platforms. This creates new opportunities for profitability, but also introduces new challenges and obstacles.