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Facebook has brought onboard a lobbying firm in the wake of increased regulatory pushback on its proposed cryptocurrency project, Libra, according to a report from O’Dwyer’s.
Citing lobbying registration documents filed with Congress, the report said that Facebook has retained FS Vector for support on “issues related to blockchain policy.”
Founded last year, Washington-based FS Vector describes itself as a regulatory compliance, public policy, and business strategy advisory firm focused on helping fintech, regtech, financial institutions, and other innovative companies overcome challenges.
As per the report, the account for the social media giant is being led by FS Vector partner John Collins, who previously served as vice president of international policy at the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association. Prior to that, he served Senior Professional Staff for the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and led Congress’ first work into digital currencies in 2013.
Earlier this month, Facebook appointed Susan Zook, a former aide to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, to lobby for Libra. Zook’s appointment followed the hiring of Edward Bowles, a former senior bank lobbyist from Standard Chartered, in June.
FS Vector reportedly joins a number of other lobbying firms including the Sternhell Group, the Cypress Group, and the law firm Davis Polk that are being retained by Facebook for its crypto initiative.
Facebook’s official announcement on Libra sent the global regulatory authorities into a tizzy. The primary areas of concern are that of user privacy and trust, particularly as the company has been found violating user's privacy in the past.
In July, U.S. lawmakers drafted a bill, entitled “Keep Big Tech Out Of Finance Act,” that aims to prohibit large platform utilities from being a financial institution or being affiliated with a person that is a financial institution, and for other purposes.
Recently, representatives from different data protection and privacy enforcement authorities globally have also issued a joint statement on global privacy expectations of the Libra network.
Due to this growing regulatory pressure, some of the founding members of the Libra Association, the governing body of the Libra project, are reportedly considering backing out.
