Independent bank promoting Head of Finance (4)
I believe the answer is:
free
'independent' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'bank promoting head of finance' is the wordplay.
'bank' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (I've seen 'banks of' mean this (the banks are the sides of the word)).
'promoting' becomes 'fighting for' (fighting for is a kind of promoting).
'head of finance' becomes 'ee' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'fightingfor' with its middle taken out is 'fr'.
'fr'+'ee'='FREE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for free that I've seen before include "Sewn-on trimming" , "Unrestricted" , "Release; without cost" , "without payment" , "nought" .)