Among all the issues cropping up in Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)'s recent hearing in the United States Congress regarding its new Libra cryptocurrency, the matter of location was perhaps the thorniest. Testifying before various banking and financial committees, Libra co-creator David Marcus was repeatedly questioned as to why Facebook had decided to establish the subsidiary behind its newfangled stablecoin in Switzerland rather than good ol' America.
Reps. Patrick McHenry, Josh Gottheimer and Bill Huizenga, for instance, all asked queries touching on the decision to set up abroad, insinuating in the process that Facebook is aiming to avoid American regulations and oversight, and inadvertently making it easier for would-be criminals to launder money using the soon-to-be-launched “cryptocurrency.” Marcus attempted to disperse those claims when speaking to the Senate Banking Committee on July 16, assuring the lawmakers that Libra would be fully compliant with the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), observing all the relevant Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.