Banks may have to give up collaboration with Facebook if the social network launches its digital currency Libra without taking into account the position of financial regulators, said Ralph Hamers, ING Executive Director, Financial Times (FT). He recalled that financial authorities fear that Libra will be actively used to launder criminal proceeds. Hamers acknowledged that with the development of digital currencies, it has become more difficult for banks to comply with regulatory requirements to combat money laundering.

A Facebook spokesperson assured FT that the company would not launch the project until it received the appropriate permission. About the Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, he will probably devote part of his speech to Congress next week, reports the publication.

Facebook introduced Libra in mid-June. It was assumed that the cryptocurrency will appear in 2020 and will be provided with currency and assets, due to which the Libra rate should be stable. For operations with cryptocurrency, the user will need to create a digital wallet integrated into Messenger and WhatsApp or available as a separate application. During the presentation of the cryptocurrency, Facebook promised that the project will allow easy and practically free money transfers even to those who do not have a bank account and save part of the $ 25 billion “that migrants lose every year on commissions for transferring money home,” Facebook promised.

In October, the American corporations Visa, Mastercard, eBay and Stripe refused to participate in the Facebook project. According to their representatives, companies see and respect the potential of the project, but at this stage they intend to focus on other tasks. According to The Wall Street Journal, the reason was criticism of European and American authorities.