The Libra Association has announced that Robert Werner will be Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs. The new General Counsel is an experienced attorney with a respected track record and has served with leading companies such as HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
He has also held important public positions in the US Treasury Department, where he led the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as director.
Other prestigious positions have seen him involved as Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Senior Counsel to the Undersecretary of the Treasury, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Intelligence.
He also appears to have worked in the legal counsel office of the Department of Justice, where he assisted the Attorney General and White House legal counsel. Throughout his past, he has also worked alongside US Supreme Court judges Anthony M. Kennedy and Lewis F. Powell.
Werner was also the founder and CEO of GRH Consulting.
Finally, he also worked in the Connecticut State Attorney General’s Office and in the administration of the former Connecticut State Governor, Lowell Weicker.
Libra in search of authorizations
As announced by the association, the aim of the new Director of Legal Affairs will be to help Libra to obtain authorizations and become part of the international regulatory process. It is no coincidence that his appointment comes only a few weeks after the application for a licence to FINMA, the Swiss financial market regulator.
The objective is ambitious, as he himself has stated:
“I am grateful for the opportunity to join the Libra Association, as we work to transform the global payments landscape to empower billions of people,” said Mr. Werner. “I have dedicated my career to combating financial crime and helping complex organizations achieve regulatory compliance, both in government and in the private sector. I look forward to meaningfully contributing to such an impactful project”.
It will not be an easy path given the obstructionism Facebook’s cryptocurrency has already encountered. However, Libra can now count on the experience of Robert Werner, new CEO Stuart Levey, and the funds of new members of the association.
