Dive Brief:
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HSBC's former business finance head and group general manager, Ian Jenkins, is heading to the Facebook-backed cryptocurrency project as its new CFO and chief risk officer of Libra Networks. Libra Association, which plans to issue and govern the Libra cryptocurrency, shared the news Thursday.
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Jenkins is not the first HSBC exec to join the Geneva, Switzerland-based business. Last month, it appointed former HSBC European head James Emmett to lead Libra Networks, as well as HSBC's former chief legal officer Stuart Levey to head the association, Reuters reported.
- "I am excited to join the Libra Networks leadership team at a time when innovation in the financial sector has the potential to empower billions of people worldwide," Jenkins said in a statement. "The Libra project is poised to transform the industry and I am looking forward to being part of this team."
Dive Insight:
"Ian's deep expertise in global finance, risk and strategy will be crucial in bringing the Libra vision to life," Libra Networks Managing Director James Emmett said. "I look forward to working with Ian as we move forward to a more operational phase of the project."
Jenkins, a longtime veteran of the banking industry, also previously worked as chief risk officer at Santander and COO at Credit Suisse, his LinkedIn profile says.
The news comes days after multi-governmental group G7 said the Libra Project needed proper regulatory measures in place prior to launch, Cointelegraph reported.
"The G7 continues to maintain that no global stablecoin project should begin operation until it adequately addresses relevant legal, regulatory, and oversight requirements through appropriate design and by adhering to applicable standards," a draft of the G7's concerns, obtained by Cointelegraph, said.
The Libra project, which Facebook rolled out in 2019, was relaunched in April after regulators and banks "across the world raised concerns it could upset financial stability and erode mainstream power over money," Reuters wrote.
Currently, Libra seeks to issue a series of stablecoins backed by individual traditional currencies, Reuters reported. Many of the senior executives it has hired since applying for a Swiss payments license earlier this year "are specialized in financial compliance" and have ties to U.S. government and authorities.
As Libra put it in its announcement, the string of new executive appointees comes in tandem with an update on the regulatory and licensing progress with the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA).