National

AG Defends Govt. Handling of FTX Collapse

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – After government has labelled FTX debacle the obscuring of basic facts by guessing games and rumors, Attorney General Ryan Pinder laid out the government’s position on the ongoing FTX saga while slamming critics.

Published

1 year ago

November 28, 2022

Berthony McDermott

The attorney general is defending the government’s response to the collapse of FTX, while launching a scathing attack on those he says are spreading false information about the process.

In a national address Sunday, Pinder said The Bahamas is a country of law, adding attempts to blame the government are false.

“Any attempt to lay the entirety of this debacle at the feet of The Bahamas, because FTX is headquartered here, would be a gross oversimplification of reality,” Pinder said.

“And it is deeply misguided to conclude that reluctance to communicate the details of an active investigation means that nothing is happening; in fact, the government’s discretion stems from how seriously we take our commitment to the rule of law and the independence of the securities regulator,” he continued.

Earlier this month, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas froze FTX’s assets and applied to the Supreme Court to put the company into liquidation.

Pinder says government found some of the assertions on the FTX matter shocking.

“We have been shocked at the ignorance of those who assert that FTX came to The Bahamas because they did not want to submit to regulatory scrutiny; in fact, the world is full of countries in which there is no legislative or regulatory authority over crypto, but The Bahamas is not one of them.”

The AG insists faith in The Bahamas as a responsible jurisdiction will only be strengthened.

He said both criminal and civil investigations into the affairs of FTX Digital Markets are ongoing.

Pinder urged local and international authorities to be prudent and show restraint with their public commentary so as to not prejudice the proceedings.

He called recent admissions from FTX’s new CEO regrettable, saying they misrepresented actions taken by the Securities Commission.

“It is extremely regrettable that in Chapter 11 filings for bankruptcy protection made in New York last week, that the new Chief Executive of FTX Trading Ltd. – not the Bahamas-based FTX Digital Markets – but an affiliate company incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda — misrepresented the timely action taken by the Securities Commission, and used inaccurate allegations lodged in the Transfer Motion to do so,” Pinder said.