(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. hired two more lobbyists to help win over lawmakers threatening to stymie its launch of a cryptocurrency, according to lobbying disclosures filed this week.
William Hollier, president of Hollier Associates LLC, began to lobby for the social-media company on issues including blockchain policy in late August, according to his disclosure. Hollier worked for Senator Mike Crapo, the Idaho Republican who heads the Senate Banking Committee, for more than a decade until 2003. In addition to Facebook, his clients include Microsoft Corp. and the Independent Community Bankers of America.
Michael Williams of the Williams Group began to lobby for Facebook in mid-July, according to his disclosure. He was previously a managing director for Credit Suisse Securities, and now has clients including the American Financial Services Association and Delta Air Lines Inc.
Facebook, with 27 partners, is attempting to launch a new digital currency called Libra that its executives say can lower costs and expand access to the banking system in third-world countries. The project faced bipartisan scorn during Congressional hearings in July, even leading to legislative proposals that would kill it.
Four other firms have registered to lobby for Facebook on cryptocurrencies and related issues in the past two months, including John Collins of FS Vector, a lobbying and regulatory compliance firm in Washington. Collins is a former executive with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Inc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Light in Washington at jlight8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny
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