After visiting Libra’s base (Switzerland), US legislators have not let go of their guard

According to foreign media, after visiting Switzerland to meet with the country's financial regulators, US legislators are still worried about Facebook's cryptocurrency project Libra.

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Meeting with multiple agencies

According to an official statement issued by US Congressman Maxine Waters on August 25th, members of the US House Financial Services Committee met with several Swiss regulators and members. These Swiss institutions include the National Secretariat for International Financial Affairs, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, and the Financial Markets Authority.

As announced earlier this month, the purpose of the US lawmakers' trip is to clarify how the Swiss authorities will oversee Libra and learn more about the current status and scale of the project. When talking about these meetings, Waters said:

“Although I am grateful to the Swiss government officials for taking the time to meet with us, I am still concerned about allowing a large technology company to create a privately controlled, alternative global currency.”

At a series of congressional Libra hearings in mid-July, David Marcus, co-founder of Facebook communications products and Libra co-founder, said that Swiss regulation is well aligned with the project's goals.

However, many US congressmen do not believe that they are worried that Facebook will set up Libra's headquarters in Switzerland in order to circumvent the legal review brought about by regulatory arbitrage.

Further investigation and user data

Earlier this week, Waters said Congress will continue to investigate Libra, and further review will be a priority for the US Congressional Financial Services Committee in the next legislative session.

In view of Facebook's past behaviors on user data and privacy issues, the chairman of the committee, Rep. Waters, is particularly critical of Libra. Waters said Facebook "has failed to maintain the privacy of consumer data on a scale similar to Equifax."

After Facebook released Libra's white paper earlier this year, Waters asked Facebook to stop development, and the authorities are investigating the project and its possible impact on US economic and monetary policy. To this end, Marcus said that Facebook, the social media giant, will promise not to launch the proposed stable currency plan until the concerns of the Fed and other regulators are resolved.

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