Daily Management Review

Libra Will Have 100 Members Before Its Launch: Facebook Executive


10/17/2019




Libra Will Have 100 Members Before Its Launch: Facebook Executive
Facebook expects that about 100 banks and financial firms will join its digital currency project Libra as soon as the social media platform is able to adhere to all of the regulatory concerns even though a number of high-profile partners including PayPal, Visa and Mastercard have exited the Libra Association which has been created to regulate and launch the currency. This optimistic comment was made the head of the Libra project.
 
"It will take time for us to address all of the regulatory concerns that were raised and it's our duty and our responsibility to come with answers to all of these questions," head of the Libra project David Marcus said while addressing a panel at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conference in Washington.
 
"I think once we've done this then I think we'll see more banks and traditional financial services firms join the effort," Marcus said. He also added that large and regulated financial companies will now find it hard to "take an active part in this fight right now, given the climate and the pressure."
 
In recent weeks, the Libra project, one of the most ambitious and prestigious projects undertaken by the largest social media company so far, has faced a number of setbacks including severe skepticism about the future of the digital currency by a number of regulatory bodies of the world.   
 
The other major backers of the project who had quit the Libra project just last week include names such as Stripe, eBay Inc and Booking Holdings Inc. Earlier this month, PayPal Holdings Inc had announced its departure from the project.
 
This quitting by the major financial companies backing the Libra project, most which are United States and Europe based companies, follows some intense and severe criticism of the project by global bodies and policy makers as well as financial regulators in et US and Europe about the threats to economies and the financial market from the digital currency. the major concern is that Libra could significantly negatively impact the global financial system, compromise the privacy of users and could be used as conduit for terrorism financing and money laundering.
 
The Libra project "must address a core set of legal and regulatory challenges" before it can go live, said Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard stressing on such concerns while talking at a separate event in Washington earlier this week.
 
The digital currency is set to launch in June of 2020 and Facebook has lost the support for the digital currency from any all major payments firms for the project.
 
Initially, interest in participating in the project had been expressed by around 1,600 entities globally, Marcus said speaking at the IMF event, and added that there should be “no problems” for the Libra project to get backing and support of more than 100 companies and entities before it is launched. 
 
The first ever meeting of the Libra Association was held in Geneva on Monday by the 21 remaining members of the body and they together selected a five member governing body for the association.
 
(Source:www.wbhl.com)