G20 urges global regulations to address ‘serious’ risks in cryptocurrencies

WASHINGTON – The Group of 20 major economies agreed Friday that global digital currencies should not be rolled out unless “serious” risks related to money laundering and illicit finance are addressed, casting a shadow on Facebook Inc.’s plan to launch its Libra currency next year.

Wrapping up their two-day meeting in Washington, the G20 finance chiefs also showed support for ongoing efforts to create international taxation rules to plug loopholes used by IT giants, such as Google LLC, to reduce their corporate taxes.

The two issues have been drawing global attention as countries seek to tackle challenges arising from technological innovation, particularly digitization.

“While acknowledging the potential benefits of financial innovation, we agree that global stablecoins and other similar arrangements … give rise to a set of serious public policy and regulatory risks,” the G20 said in a statement, referring to cryptocurrencies that seek to stabilize the price of the…