. stablecoins : the challenge of libra both banks and central banks are following the plans for the “ facebook coin ” libra with great interest. you may recognize that i prefer not to refer to libra as a currency, as one can often read in the press. in germany, as in the euro area, only the euro is legal tender – whereas libra would be privately issued, of course. that is why i would call it a new means of payment. libra is scheduled to be a “ stablecoin ”. these often peg their value to an existing currency or a currency basket. furthermore, their value is backed by suitable collateral. in the case of libra, the money which customers use to buy libra in exchange for legal tender is invested in bank deposits and short - term government securities. the value of libra is pegged to the value of the reserve built up in this way. as central banks, we are generally open to innovation, but the safety and efficiency of payments must be ensured. in fact, a g7 working group recently already reported to the g7 finance ministers on the potential risks of libra. however, there is still an extensive list of questions which needs to be answered by the libra association before final assessments can be made. right now, though, there is still not enough known to really assess how safe the libra vehicle would be and how such a global system could be effectively supervised and by whom. neither the technology, nor the business model, nor the exact rights and obligations of members and users have been determined. moreover, there are unanswered questions relating to combatting money laundering. there are plans for libra to be issued by an association comprising not only facebook but also, when it was announced, 27 other enterprises. though this network appears to be crumbling a little, the financial firepower of those who are still on board and the reach they command with their existing networks would suggest that policymakers as well as central banks and supervisors would be well advised to take these plans very seriously. from a central bank perspective, i can assure you that we will apply the complete spectrum of existing rules. depending on how libra is designed, it may also be necessary to adjust the current regulatory framework. this would then also be a matter for policymakers, because we follow the principle that the same business and same risks need to be supervised according to the same rules. at the same time, however, the libra

francois villeroy de galhau : bank of france - how the commitment to fintechs is being implemented speech by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the autorite de controle prudentiel et de resolution ( acpr ), at the acpr - amf forum fintech, paris, 11 october 2021. * * * dear minister, ladies and gentlemen, i am very pleased to welcome you to the banque de france this morning for this annual acpramf fintech forum – and i would also like to welcome robert ophele, chairman of the amf. mr. minister, dear cedric, you have once again given us the pleasure of being present for this second forum. the strong attendance of public officials testifies to our collective commitment to fintechs, which i am convinced are indispensable to the financial sector, as a driver of creativity, vitality and efficiency. previously a garden in the making, the fintech ecosystem is now growing in leaps and bounds. this is especially the case since these start - ups have benefited from the acceleration of digitisation in finance resulting from the health crisis. moreover, 2021 was a record year for fundraising in the sector : eur 1. 7 billion had been raised by the end of august 2021, which is already twice as much as for the whole of last year, and this year also saw the birth of the first french fintech “ unicorns ". this morning, i would like to illustrate to you how our commitments to fintechs are being implemented in practice : ( i ) firstly by enhancing dialogue, ( ii ) secondly by facilitating their integration into the regulatory framework, ( iii ) and lastly by conducting experiments with them. i. enhancing the dialogue with fintechs we communicate with fintechs primarily through the specific correspondents of the banque de france and the acpr. at the banque de france, thestart - up correspondents, also french tech correspondents, assist start - ups at all stages of their project ( financing, ratings, etc. ). at the acpr, the fintech innovation unit is a dedicated gateway for fintechs. each year, about 250 discussions are conducted in this context, half of which being initial contacts with innovative project leaders. with the development of the fintech ecosystem, it became necessary to broaden dialogue to all stakeholders, which is what our acpr - amf