<p>Bertrand Perez, chief operating officer and interim managing director of the Libra Association, has said that several companies, including banks, are interested in joining the Facebook-led stablecoin project, Libra.</p> <p>“Banking and financial institutions” have expressed interest in joining the project, Perez<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/100-members-will-join-facebooks-libra-before-launch-group-executive.html"> told</a> CNBC in an interview published Tuesday. He did not specify any companies, but said: “We have reputable companies that are also very active in the financial and banking space.”</p> <p>Currently, <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/27517/where_are_the_banks">no bank</a> is part of the Libra Association, among its <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/43280/facebook-led-libra-association-secures-21-signatures-at-inaugural-charter-meeting">21 founding members</a>. Previously, the association had 28 members, including Facebook. But in recent weeks, 7 high-profile companies - Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe, eBay, Booking Holdings and online marketplace MercadoLibre - <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/43207/booking-holdings-drop-out-of-facebooks-libra">pulled out of the project</a>.</p> <p>Despite these departures, Perez is “confident” that the association will have 100 members by the time Libra launches. Given the intense<a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/category/facebook"> regulatory scrutiny</a> of the project, Perez admitted that the launch could get delayed.</p> <p>“We are aware that we need to answer a lot of questions coming from the regulators and to make them comfortable with the platform and that requires time,” he said, adding: “Launching a few quarters later or before makes no real change.”</p>