Balance alarm in Europe



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The European Central Bank warned Facebook that the bar for regulatory approval of its Libra project was set very high as governments in the region express their concerns about digital currencies.

The projects involve many risks, including a possible "race to the bottom" in terms of regulatory arbitrage, warned Benoit Coeure, member of the board of directors of the European Central Bank. "There are very strong concerns," he said in Helsinki on Friday, calling for a global approach to cryptocurrency. "We have to look very carefully at these projects, the bar for regulatory approval has been set very high."

Eurozone policymakers have sounded the alarm since Facebook unveiled plans in June. The governor of the French central bank, François Villeroy de Galhau, warned that this raises serious questions about money laundering and data protection. The antitrust authorities of the European Union are also conducting a preliminary investigation into the operation of the balance and the operation of the new payment system.

Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission, told reporters Friday in Helsinki, at the end of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers, that a specific regulatory framework was needed . "Today's discussion revealed some concerns, including financial stability requirements."

Still, "the Balance project has sparked new thinking on how to improve our payment systems," said ECB's President Coeure.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called for a discussion on the possibility of a public digital currency and on reducing the cost of international transactions. "I am deeply convinced that we should reject the development of the balance within the EU," he said. – Report by Kati Pohjanpalo and Leo Laikola, with the help of Nikos Chrysoloras, (c) 2019 Bloomberg LP

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