SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to reassure Congress on Wednesday that his company won’t try to evade financial regulators as it prepares its planned digital currency Libra.
In prepared remarks released Tuesday ahead of a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Zuckerberg says that Facebook “will not be a part of launching the Libra payments system anywhere in the world unless all U.S. regulators approve it.”
That’s a stronger statement than Facebook official David Marcus made in July when he said the company will not offer Libra until it has “fully addressed regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals.” Marcus leads the Libra project on Facebook.
Zuckerberg is trying to defend Libra and alleviate concerns that the currency could sidestep regulators. Analysts say Libra could avoid regulation and launch in countries where it’s not receiving pushback, but this does not appear to be Facebook’s intention.
Instead, Zuckerberg is pushing an optimistic vision of Libra and what it could mean for people around the world who don’t have access to bank accounts.
“The financial industry is stagnant and there is no digital financial architecture to support the innovation we need,” his statement reads. “I believe this problem can be solved, and Libra can help.”
Libra has seen several high-profile defections among other companies that originally supported it, including Visa and MasterCard.
(Agencies)
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