US congressmen visit Switzerland because of Facebook currency

As the NZZ am Sonntag writes in its current issue, a six-member delegation from the US House of Representatives will be visiting Switzerland in the next few days. It represents the "Committee on Financial Services", which oversees the financial industry.

The delegation is led by Maxine Waters, the Democratic chair of the Banking Committee. She has been extremely critical of the Facebook currency project on several occasions in the past. In a TV interview, she also criticized the fact that Switzerland was chosen as the location, where money laundering had been carried out on a large scale in the past.

In Switzerland, the group is to hold various meetings arranged by the U.S. Embassy. However, the delegation is cagey about the details and will not answer a question from the newspaper, while Finance Minister Ueli Maurer only hints that the delegation "will also visit Switzerland briefly.

At least two stations have the NZZ on Sunday investigated: The delegation will meet with Privacy Commissioner Adrian Lobsinger to discuss the Libra project. He plays a key role in the cryptocurrency: Facebook already declared in the U.S. that Lobsinger was responsible for oversight, even before they had ever contacted him. In the meantime, the connection has been made and Lobsinger is waiting for an answer to his questions, which he addressed to the Libra association in July. In general, there is a great deal of distrust of Facebook when it comes to data security. However, Lobsinger first wants to clarify his own responsibility in the case before he comments on the topic.

As a second fixed point, the NZZ on Sunday a visit to the Federal Palace. There, the delegation will be shown around by National Councilor Christa Markwalder, President of the Switzerland-USA Parliamentary Association. She hopes to exchange views on the topic of cryptocurrencies. "A complex topic where we can certainly learn from each other," she says.