MENLO PARK, Calif.—Well ahead of its launch, regulators from around the world are expressing concern and even some confusion regarding Facebook’s proposed new cryptocurrency, the Libra coin.
In addition to members of Congress who have expressed some skepticism or indicated it will need to monitor the situation, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently said there is “insufficient” detail to understand Facebook’s plans, with the FCA’s chief executive Andrew Bailey telling a U.K. Parliament Treasury Select Committee that, because Facebook is big enough to have an impact on public policy, more information is essential. “They are not going to walk through authorization without that,” Bailey said, according to Trusted Reviews reported.
Bailey said the FCA, Bank of England and Britain’s finance minister are working together on Facebook’s proposal, and that they’re already in contact with the company.
Concerns Over AML
Separately, the governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said Facebook and its Libra cryptocurrency must respect anti-money laundering regulations and seek banking licenses if it is to be offering banking services.
“The risks are increased by the anonymity that Libra users would have,” Villeroy said in an interview with French weekly magazine L’Obs, before talking about how Facebook would have to go the extra kilometer to make sure both transactions and user data are fully secure.
“If the project seeks to go beyond payments to offering banking services like deposits, it will then have to be regulated like a bank with a banking license in all the countries it operates. Otherwise it would be illegal,” he said.