The Libra Association, the group behind the proposed digital currency invented by Facebook, named former U.S. Treasury Department official Stuart Levey as its first chief executive officer.
Processing Content
Levey has been chief legal officer at London-based bank HSBC Holdings PLC since 2012. As leader of the Libra Association, he will work with global regulators to push the project forward, a daunting task that already led the group to revise its plans for releasing a digital coin. The association is currently working with regulators in Europe and the U.S. to obtain the necessary payment licenses.
Stuart Levey is a former undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department. He has been chief legal counsel at HSBC since 2012.
Bloomberg
Before joining HSBC, Levey was under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department, where he helped “combat illicit finance,” the Libra Association said Wednesday. Much of the skepticism about Libra has centered on concerns that the coin could be used for illegal activity.
Libra, which was announced in June 2019, was conceived and developed by Facebook, the world’s largest social network. It’s now governed by a 24-member independent coalition of companies and nonprofits, though the group has changed since the project was launched. Levey will assume the role sometime this summer, and will be stationed in Washington. The Libra Association, based in Geneva, said last month that it aims to have its coins ready in late 2020.
The small Missouri community bank partnered with embedded banking provider Treasury Prime to connect with fintechs and signed on its first sponsoree earlier this year.
Visa launched its Stablecoin Advisory Practice, a value-added service from its consultancy arm Visa Consulting & Analytics, to help financial institutions, fintechs and merchants deploy stablecoin technology.
The Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada is elbowing into fast-growing North Carolina and South Carolina with a strategy focused on middle market banking.
HoldCo Asset Management says that shareholders should reject Fifth Third's proposed acquisition of Comerica during a Jan. 6 vote due to what it calls an "unacceptable" negotiation process and the possible upside from another deal.
