Zuckerberg to testify before Congress on Libra according to a press release by financial services website. The session will address the impact of Libra on the economy. The session is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 10:00AM (EDT).
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced that Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the Committee at an October 23 hearing.
Zuckerberg will be the sole witness at the hearing, which is entitled, “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.”
In July, Chairwoman Waters and other Committee Democrats sent a letter to Facebook requesting an immediate moratorium on the implementation of Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, and digital wallet, Calibra.
Also in July, Waters convened a hearing entitled, “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Cryptocurrency and Its Impact on Consumers, Investors, and the American Financial System,” with testimony from Calibra CEO David Marcus. At the hearing Committee Members discussed a draft bill, the “Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act.” The draft legislation prohibits large platform utilities, like Facebook, from becoming chartered, licensed or registered as a U.S. financial institution (e.g. like taxpayer-backed banks, investment funds, and stock exchanges) or otherwise becoming affiliated with such financial institutions. The bill also prohibits large platform utilities from establishing, maintaining, or operating a digital asset that is intended to be widely used as medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, or any other similar function as defined by the Federal Reserve.
See below for details on the hearing:
WHO: Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO, Facebook
WHAT: Full Committee hearing entitled, “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.”
WHEN: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 10:00AM (EDT)
WHERE: 2128 Rayburn House Office Building
According to a report by OdwyerPR, Facebook has recently hired a lobbying firm to push for greater acceptance of Libra,. It’s virtual currency. The company hopes to move forward the process of oversight and regulation that needs to be passed.
Facebook has hired a Washington-based lobbying firm in light of increased Congressional and regulatory pushback the social media network has received due to its forthcoming cryptocurrency offering, Libra
The social media giant in August retained consulting shop FS Vector for support on “issues related to blockchain policy,” according to lobbying registration documents filed with Congress.
History
Facebook formally unveiled the details of its planned blockchain digital currency initiative in June, which could potentially bring the world’s “unbanked” billions into the digital economy by allowing anyone to securely buy, sell or send money to others via Facebook. The proposed digital currency, which has yet to meet regulatory approvals, is set to launch sometime next year.
Announcement of the social network’s forays into the digital asset space has since raised serious concerns among lawmakers. Congress in July drafted a bill, titled “Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act,” which would prohibit “large platform utilities”—defined as a tech company that earns annual global revenues of $25 billion or more—from being a financial institution or operating “a digital asset that is intended to be widely used as medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, or any other similar function, as defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.”
House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) in June called for a moratorium and Congressional review of Facebook’s Libra project, “given the company’s troubled past.” Appearing in July on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Waters likened Facebook’s cryptocurrency venture to “starting a bank without having to go through any steps to do it.”
