Banks have shown interest in joining Libra Association, says executive

Facebook • October 16, 2019, 2:15AM EDT
The Block

Bertrand Perez, chief operating officer and interim managing director of the Libra Association, has said that several companies, including banks, are interested in joining the Facebook-led stablecoin project, Libra.

“Banking and financial institutions” have expressed interest in joining the project, Perez told CNBC in an interview published Tuesday. He did not specify any companies, but said: “We have reputable companies that are also very active in the financial and banking space.”

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Currently, no bank is part of the Libra Association, among its 21 founding members. Previously, the association had 28 members, including Facebook. But in recent weeks, 7 high-profile companies - Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe, eBay, Booking Holdings and online marketplace MercadoLibre - pulled out of the project.

Despite these departures, Perez is “confident” that the association will have 100 members by the time Libra launches. Given the intense regulatory scrutiny of the project, Perez admitted that the launch could get delayed.

“We are aware that we need to answer a lot of questions coming from the regulators and to make them comfortable with the platform and that requires time,” he said, adding: “Launching a few quarters later or before makes no real change.”

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