Paris (AFP)

The new Libra cryptocurrency promised for 2020 by the US giant Facebook raises more and more concerns among international regulators, who fear that this type of project will flourish and wait for a very anticipated first report next week at a meeting G7.

"The more we investigate this project, we, the community of regulators, the more we have serious questions and potentially reservations," warned Thursday the governor of the Bank of France Francois Villeroy de Galhau on the occasion of a hearing before members of the Senate.

But as it stands, "we do not have clear answers" to most questions, he said, hammering that there was "no question that these projects thrive without respecting national and international regulations ".

The day before, the head of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell had also sounded the alarm by saying that the intentions of the social network raised "great concern" in terms of "respect for personal information, consumer protection and financial stability ".

Potentially, this currency could be "widely adopted", given the two billion Facebook users, noted Mr. Powell. Therefore, "in case of problems associated with money laundering (...), they would quickly become very important because of the size of the network," he worried.

? Distrust of supervisors?

With the creation of this digital currency announced in mid-June, Facebook wants to upset the global financial system, which gives cold sweats to some states, worried about private companies engaging in this field.

In 2020, Libra will have to offer a new payment method outside traditional banking channels: it is the cornerstone of a new ecosystem, free from the barrier of different currencies.

But from the outset, this project has attracted the distrust of international supervisors and legislators, who are just ten years out of heavy work to make the global financial system safer, but also after the burst of a series of scandals over the use of user data that tainted Facebook's reputation.

After the unveiling of this project, the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire immediately warned that the attribute of sovereignty to coin money should remain the prerogative of the States, imitated shortly thereafter by the governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney who had called Facebook to follow the international rules "or else it would not work".

? "Do not be naive"?

"Some say that if there is a certain attraction for Libra, what remains to be demonstrated (...) it could be an incentive to accelerate these projects of digital currency because this attraction would reveal a need of the citizens" for this type of solution, commented Thursday Mr. Villeroy de Galhau.

"But in this case, as much to have a public token rather than a private token because the currency is fundamentally a common public good with the guarantees of the public authority behind," argued the governor.

The Libra is a project which corresponds to private interests, I am very much in favor of the market economy, but I do not think that we should be naive in this matter, it is not entirely guided, or guided only by the search for the common good, "he said.

In addition to the challenges that this type of project poses for the financial system, "some people say that the real challenge is to recover as much data as possible and thus monetize it, which raises the question of protecting the financial system. privacy, "said the governor.

A first key deadline is expected by global supervisors next week: Benoît Coeuré, one of the directors of the European Central Bank, was entrusted in mid-June in the G7 the leadership of a working group on the cryptoactives backed by currencies, just like the Libra.

This working group will deliver a first report on the subject at the meeting of G7 Finance Ministers scheduled for 17 and 18 July in France, before a final report more detailed by October.

© 2019 AFP