Libra Association names HSBC chief legal officer Stuart Levey as CEO

Stuart Levey, who currently serves as the chief legal officer for HSBC, has been named chief executive officer of the Libra Association.

The move was announced in a Wednesday press statement. It comes less than a month after the Libra Association announced a broad reimagining to its stablecoin initiative, which will see the issuance of multiple, fiat currency-tied stablecoins. What's more, materials released at the time strongly indicate that the project is looking to align itself, at least in part, around the efforts of the globe's central banks to create digital currencies of their own.

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"With the recent initiation of a payment system license under the regulatory supervision of Switzerland’s Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, FINMA, Mr. Levey’s leadership will help ensure our vision for innovation, inclusion, compliance and competition can be realized," the Association said in its statement.

Levey previously served as the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence for the U.S. Treasury Department, according to his LinkedIn account. He served in that role between July 2004 and March 2011. He previously worked for the U.S. Department of Justice.

"I am honored to join the Libra Association as it charts a bold path forward to harness the power of technology to transform the global payments landscape," Levey said in a statement. "Technology provides us with the opportunity to make it easier for individuals and businesses to send and receive money, and to empower more than a billion people who have been left on the sidelines of the financial system, all with robust controls to detect and deter illicit financial activity. I look forward to working closely with governments, regulators, and all of our stakeholders to realize this vision."