Facebook’s Libra stablecoin must meet the highest Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and terrorism financing standards, according to United States Treasury Under Secretary of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker.
Major business news outlet Reuters reported Mandelker’s remarks on Sept. 10.
Cryptocurrencies must comply
Per the report, U.S. Under Secretary of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker also told reporters in Geneva that any cryptocurrency — including Libra — operating in the U.S. has to satisfy local regulatory standards.
Regulators are concerned by Libra
Global financial regulators are concerned about Libra, with the European Central Bank’s key legal official Yves Mersch having said recently that Facebook’s Libra stablecoin is “beguiling but treacherous” during a speech at an ECB’s legal conference.
A delegation of United States regulators visited Switzerland, where Libra is based out of, to investigate on the project and meet local regulators. That being said, as Cointelegraph reported in late August, the visit did not ease U.S. regulators’ concerns.
Facebook is also attempting to influence U.S. regulators by ramping up its lobbying efforts, hiring a lobbying firm at the end of August and then two more lobbyists.
Interestingly, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, put forward a more original opinion when he has suggested a transformation of the global financial system by replacing the United States dollar with a digital currency similar to Facebook’s Libra in August.
