Bank of England cannot decide on its stance on Facebook’s Libra
|- Libra faces strong backlash from governments and institutions across the globe.
- Bank of England officials have divergent opinions on the subject matter.
Facebook’s digital currency has become a focal point of global discussions and a target of criticism for many regulators and cryptocurrency industry participants alike.
Thus, the US authorities expressed concerns about the project on numerous occasions. Most recently, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that Libra is doomed as regulatory concerns force partners to leave the project. Booking.com joined the growing list of high-profile companies that decided against participating in Libra.
Notably, the project faces a significant backlash from European authorities. Thus France and Germany are set against Libra. Therefore, France’s Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, promised to ban the project as it might cause “significant disruptions in the financial system.”
However, British regulators seem to be less prejudiced against the cryptocurrency developed by the social media giant. At least, the recent comments from the officials of the Bank of England imply that they do not have a unified opinion on the subject matter.
A member of the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee Donald Kohn believes that Libra may face a lot of challenges related to anti-money laundering requirements and customer protection rules. His concerns echo the opinion of other global regulators.
However, the head of the Bank of England Mark Carney seems to be more loyal towards Facebook’s cryptocurrency. He regards it as a potential alternative to the existing UK payment system, which is not good enough, Reuters reports.
Read also: Bank of England working on strict British Libra regulations before its launch
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