Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg agrees to testify before Congress on Libra
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Oct 11, 2019
In a statement, Brown, the senior Democrat on the Banking Committee, and Schatz, a panel member, said they pointed out in the letter that "Congress, financial regulators, and potential Libra Association member companies have struggled to get sufficient details from Facebook about risks that Libra may pose, including facilitating criminal and terrorist financing, destabilizing the global financial system, interfering with monetary policy, or exposing consumers to risks now limited to accredited investors".
On Oct. 9, Congresswoman Maxine Waters officially announced that Zuckerberg will attend a congressional hearing entitled "An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors".
Waters has sharply criticized Facebook's plans for a digital currency, known as Libra, and called for Facebook to halt development of the project.
David Marcus, the Facebook executive leading the project, told lawmakers over two days of congressional hearings in July that Facebook would not launch the currency project until it had received all the necessary approvals from regulators and secured safeguards to protect the privacy of users' data.
U.S. lawmakers have attacked Facebook on its Libra project, calling it "delusional" and "dangerous".
Facebook is continuing to pursue the launch of the currency, with members of the Libra Association due to meet next week in Geneva to formally sign up to the group.
Marcus and other Facebook executives have claimed the new digital coin could help lower costs for global money transfers and help those without access to the banking system. He did not agree to a suspension of the plan or a pilot project, as several lawmakers urged. At the hearing Committee Members discussed a draft bill, the "Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act".
Never miss the latest news from the Star. It will be his first appearance before a USA congressional committee since April 2018 although last month he was on Capitol Hill to meet privately with some lawmakers.
