G7 finance chiefs pour cold water on Facebook’s digital coin plans

Group of seven finance chiefs cast a cloud over prospects for Facebook’s Libra digital coin on Wednesday, insisting tough regulatory problems would have to be worked out first.

The massive social media company’s plan to launch a digital coin has met with a chorus from regulators, central bankers and governments saying it must respect anti-money-laundering rules and ensure the security of transactions and user data.

But there are also deeper concerns that the powers of big tech companies increasingly encroach on areas belonging to governments, like issuing currency.

“We cannot accept having any exchange currencies with the same kind of power and the same kind of role as sovereign currencies,” French finance minister Bruno Le Maire told journalists.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Facebook’s plans do not “seem to be fully thought through”, adding that there were also data security questions.

“I am convinced that we must act quickly and that (Libra) cannot go ahead without all legal and regulatory questions being resolved,” Scholz told journalists.

France, which chairs the Group of Seven advanced economies this year, has asked European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure to set up a G7 task force to look into crypto-currencies and digital coins like the Libra.

Coeure is due to present a preliminary report to ministers and central bankers at the meeting, in the quaint chateau town of Chantilly, north of Paris.

Central bankers say that if Facebook wants to take deposits, it needs a banking license, which would subject it to the strict regulation that goes with operating in that industry.

Some central bankers also say that allowing people to transact anonymously is a non-starter given financial sector regulations that require payments firms to hold basic information about their customers.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the G7 task force was likely to evolve over time into something including a broader range of regulators beyond the group, given the huge impact Libra could have on the global economy.

“If the Libra is aspiring to be used globally, countries must seek a globally coordinated response,” Kuroda said.