New Head Frontrunner for IMF Bank
Recently, it was announced by the International Monetary Funds, that Christine Lagarde would be leaving the company by 2020 to become the new head of the European Central Bank. There is already speculation regarding who will be the person to replace her position with the company, and the first name to be thrown out is Mark Carney. Mark is the Governor for the Bank of England and is slated to leave the bank around the same period that Christine is leaving IMF. Logistically, it matches a time frame that’s perfect for IMF.
Mark Carney spoke about Christine Lagarde with press officials by stating: “I think we need to respect the process here. There’s a process to confirm Lagarde at the European Central Bank, and then there’s a process to select her successor. There’ll come a time when that process is launched, and that would probably be the right time to answer that.”
Who is Lagarde?
Christine Lagarde is an advocate for cryptocurrency, with her public statements always leaning in favour of the new currency type. Lagarde has even favoured the creation of digital currencies for Central Banks, which is rare to see from institutional bankers, as it implores third-world economies. Lagarde is also one who favours innovation of new blockchain and cryptocurrencies technologies, so long as they comply with the national regulation and legislation enacted by the ESMA.
Lagarde’s most famous quote regarding cryptocurrency is the following: “I think the role of the disruptors and anything that is using distributed ledger technology, whether you call it crypto, assets, currencies, or whatever … that is shaking the system. We don’t want to shake the system so much that we would lose the stability that is needed.”
Mark Carney on Cryptocurrency
Mark is entirely different from Christine in how cryptocurrency is respected. He has publicly stated that he prefers fiat currencies over cryptocurrencies, he hasn’t supported Bitcoin or Libra. He’s indicated to the press numerous times that cryptocurrency on its own is proof enough as to why it isn’t a safe and reliable form of currency. The difference in opinion can result in significant changes coming to the IMF Bank after 2020.
Since the announcement of Project Libra, many central banks and government bodies have been hard at work determining how to regulate the upcoming cryptocurrency. Carney has been one of the active voices imploring central banks worldwide to ban cryptocurrency, as it could result in a dramatic shift for financial markets worldwide. There’s a chance that a global economy crash could become a reality if Libra succeeds.
Mark Carney is fearful that not enough is being done to account for the upcoming libra coin. The press has quoted him as saying: “If you are a systemic payment system, you have to be on all the time. You can’t have teething issues; you can’t have people losing money out of their wallets. This is not learning on the job stuff; it’s got to be rock solid right from the start, or it’s not going to start.”
Additional Names were thrown in the Ring
Mark Carney isn’t the only name that has been thrown into the Ring for replacing Lagarde. The Governor for the Reserve Bank of India has been mentioned, as has the United Kingdom Chancellor. However, the French and German central banks appear to prefer Mark Carney over any of the other choices. At this point, it’s almost guaranteed that he has the job.
