The Libra Association has appointed Robert Werner, a former FinCEN director, as its first chief lawyer. Previously, Werner was the head of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network March to December 2006. During his spell at FinCEN, Werner appointed a new CIO to strengthen the department’s information technology capacity as per FinCEN.
As per the release, Werner has sizable experience in the regulatory space, financial crime compliance and administrative positions, from his past periods in both the public and private sectors. In the private sector, he served management positions at both HSBC and Goldman Sachs, according to today’s announcement.
Libra Association appoints former FinCEN director as General Counsel
Werner served as the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, (OFAC), the Senior Counsel to the Under Secretary of the Treasury, the Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Intelligence at the General Counsel’s office, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
On 19 May, the Libra Association announced the appointment of Robert Werner as General Counsel for the most latest high-profile employment. In addition, Werner is also the ex-CEO and the founder of GRH Consulting.
Notably, the ex-FinCEN head also previously held roles in the US Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel; as the advisor to the Attorney General and White house counsel. In addition, he was also a clerk to U.S Supreme Court judges Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
Libra Association make two high-profile appointments
The hiring of Werner comes amid Facebook Libra’s latest efforts to steer through the regulatory waves by making changes to its whitepaper. Interestingly, two weeks ago on May 6, the Libra Association appointed Stuart Levey, another former HSBc leader; and former undersecretary for terrorism to president Barack Obama, as the initial chief executive.
The two high-profile appointments follow the beginning of Libra Association’s process to navigate through Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) payment licensing; and release of the amended whitepaper.