Libra Foundation announces its first CEO

The Libra Association appointed Stuart Levey, current legal director of HSBC and former first under-secretary of the US Treasury, as CEO. This is the first director general of the crypto-foundation created by Facebook.

In a press release, Libra stated that Levey will leave the bank HSBC "Later this summer" to join the association as CEO and bring its experience in banking, regulatory policy and national security.

Before joining HSBC, Levey has been first under-secretary of the United States Treasury under the Bush and Obama administrations. During his tenure, he played an important role in the development of a policy to combat illicit financing.

I am honored to join the Libra Association, which is setting out on a bold path to harness the power of technology to transform the global payments landscape. I look forward to working closely with governments, regulators and all of our stakeholders to achieve this vision, ”said Levey.

The regulatory and banking specialist will in particular be responsible for obtaining banking licenses. The association recently started a process of obtaining a license from the Swiss regulatory body FINMA.

Stuart brings a rare combination of an accomplished leader to government, where he enjoyed bipartisan respect and influence, and the private where he led teams spread across the planet […] Stuart shares our vision of using blockchain technology to provide a more open, inclusive and efficient payment system that puts crypto in the hands of billions of people, ”added Katie Haun, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and board member of administration of Libra.

Unveiled in June 2019, Facebook's crypto-project has come up against concerns from regulators and politicians around the world. The social media giant has since deeply revised its ambitions. Libra now wants to a closed payment system. Forgotten (almost) the single stablecoin in favor of multiple local electronic currencies.

Last month, Checkout.com, a company specializing in online payments, and the non-profit organization Heifer have joined the consortium.