Ashley Freeman

Ashley heads the Banking & Finance group of Haya Rashed Al Khalifa.  He has extensive expertise of all aspects of global and domestic finance gained over 25 years of exclusive specialisation in this area.  Ashley is best known in Bahrain for his 13-year tenure as General Counsel of the Central Bank of Bahrain (2001-2014).  This position gave him unique insight into numerous financial law matters, rarely encountered by banking lawyers, including the regulation and supervision of banks and financial institutions.  He was also responsible for leading the legal team of the Government of Bahrain’s bond and sukuk issuance programme between 2004-2014.

• Global finance – including retail and wholesale banks; challenger banks, financing companies and fin-techs; central banks and monetary authorities, including financial regulation, payment systems and financial investigations; stock exchanges and capital markets (including bond and sukuk issues); bank and financial institution rescues and restructurings; investment business, including collective investments schemes and sovereign funds; insurance and takaful; financial services disputes; general corporate and commercial matters.

• Banking
• Financial services
• Government and public policy

• Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales (admitted 1995)

• Cambridge University, BA and MA in Law
• College of Law (now University of Law); Law Society Finals