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Facebook ‘cannot go forward’ with digital currency Libra until it addresses privacy and money laundering concerns: US Fed chief Jerome Powell
- Powell said the digital currency project raised ‘serious concerns’ for regulators over privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability
- The US Fed has established a working group to follow the project and is coordinating with other central banks across the globe, he added
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US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that Facebook’s plan to build a digital currency called Libra “cannot go forward” until serious concerns were addressed.
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The strong comments from the head of the US central bank, the country’s top financial regulator, adds to misgivings about the project, which has already produced strong scepticism among top policymakers across the globe.
“I don’t think that the project can go forward … without there being broad satisfaction with the way the company has addressed money laundering; all of those things,” Powell said in an appearance before the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
Powell said the digital currency project, announced by the social media giant in June, raised “serious concerns” for regulators.
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“Libra raises many serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability,” he told the committee. “These are concerns that should be thoroughly and publicly addressed.”
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