FS Vector, a regulatory compliance, public policy and business strategy advisory firm, announced today that Andy Barbour, Peter Freeman, and Simone Garreau have joined the firm. Barbour and Freeman will join the public policy team while Garreau will help expand the firm’s capabilities in enterprise risk management and compliance. Barbour will join as partner, and Freeman and Garreau as principals at FS Vector.

“FS Vector’s mission is to help financial services firms overcome the challenges of operating innovative businesses in a difficult regulatory environment. It takes top caliber, high energy people to make this happen. Andy, Peter, and Simone bring substantial experience that will benefit our clients and further our mission,” said John Beccia, CEO and Co-Founder of FS Vector.

Joining current FS Vector partner John Collins, both Barbour and Freeman bring strong bipartisan leadership to FS Vector’s public policy team that works closely with a variety of financial institutions, fintechs, regtechs and industry groups. Barbour is a leading financial services lobbyist and has been perennially recognized on The Hill’s Top Lobbyist list. A former Clinton Administration official, Barbour began his career on Capitol Hill with Rep. William D. Ford (D-MI) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI). Barbour then led The Financial Services Rountable’s efforts to pass numerous pieces of legislation, including the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

Freeman was formerly Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Senior Adviser to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Prior to working with Rep. Royce, Freeman served as Professional Staff on the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Capital Markets, and as Policy Adviser to the Chairman of the House Republican Conference, Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH). As Vice President for Insurance, Trade & Technology at The Financial Services Roundtable, Freeman worked with many of the largest financial services companies advising on policy and regulatory matters.

“Andy and Peter, combined, have more than three decades of experience working on financial services policy, both on Capitol Hill and advising some of the largest financial companies in the world. They bring unrivaled expertise across an array of issues and will be a tremendous asset to FS Vector,” said John Collins.

“I am excited to join FS Vector, a firm which has carved out a unique niche in the financial services advisory landscape,” said Barbour. “It is a critical moment in time for both emerging financial firms and for leading institutions. We believe that we have the right team to help drive important dialogue on key policy issues affecting the sector.”

Garreau joins FS Vector from Western Union where she managed global anti-money laundering, risk management, terrorist financing and sanctions matters. She was Co-Chair of the company’s FinTech Compliance Practice Group. In addition, she led the international crisis response program and managed regulatory, security and reputational risk issues for the company. Prior to Western Union, Garreau worked on global risk, intelligence and security issues in other roles and handled special projects for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She will expand FS Vector’s growing risk management and compliance practice, which serves banks and fintechs in a variety of areas, such as payments, credit, insurance, lending, insurance, wealth management and cryptocurrencies.

“I am thrilled that Andy, Peter, and Simone are joining our team at FS Vector,” said Raj Date, a Co-Founder of FS Vector and the former acting chief of the CFPB. “Vector’s clients trust us with their most important issues at the intersection of strategy, compliance, and public policy; these three terrific new colleagues have the drive, intellect, and experience to help us and our clients thrive.”

To learn more about FS Vector and our services, please visit https://www.fsvector.com/ or inquire at info@fsvector.com.