Global regulators to question Facebook about Libra cryptocurrency amid EU concerns

ReutersSep 15, 2019 15:24:31 IST

Global regulators will question Facebook on Monday about its Libra cryptocurrency, amid concerns from European Union governments over the threat the digital currency poses to financial stability, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Officials from 26 central banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, will meet with representatives of Libra in Basel on Monday, the FT said, citing officials.

Libra’s founders have also been invited to answer key questions about the currency’s scope and design, FT said.

Facebook Libra. Image: Reuters.

Facebook did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment outside regular business hours.

Countries including France and Germany have publicly criticized the social media giant’s Libra project, saying it posed risks to EU states’ sovereignty.

Last week, France’s Finance Minister said that the European Union should create a common set of rules for virtual currencies, currently largely unregulated in the bloc, to counter risks posed by Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra.

The 28-nation EU does not have specific regulations on cryptocurrencies, which have so far been considered a marginal issue by most decision-makers because only a tiny fraction of bitcoins or other digital coins are converted into euros.

But plans unveiled in June by US social media giant Facebook to launch its own digital currency, Libra, for payments among its hundreds of millions of users in Europe and around the world have triggered a rethink.